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Parlamenter Sistemde Başkanlık Dış Politikasını Şekillendirmek: Erdoğan ve Muhtarlar Toplantıları

Year 2018, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 65 - 92, 28.12.2018
https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.463012

Abstract



Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ağustos 2014’de cumhurbaşkanı olarak seçilmesinden
Nisan 2017’de başkanlık sistemini getiren anayasal referanduma kadar, kendisinin
daha önceki cumhurbaşkanları gibi sembolik bir siyasi figür olmayacağını
göstermeye çalışmıştır. Tam tersine, ülkenin iç ve dış politika gündemini, aynı
başkanlık sisteminde görüleceği gibi, şekillendirmeye devam etmiştir. Bunu
gerçekleştirdiği araçlardan ilki Ocak 2015’de düzenlenen muhtarlar toplantıları
serileri olmuştur. Bu tarihten, arzulanan anayasal değişimlerin halk tarafından
onaylandığı referanduma kadar Erdoğan toplam otuz yedi muhtarlar toplantısı
düzenlemiştir. Bu toplantılarda doğrudan muhtarlara, ama daha önemlisi dolaylı
olarak Türk halkına ve dış aktörlere Türkiye’nin iç ve dış politikası hakkında
konuşmalar yapmıştır. Bu çalışma Erdoğan’ın muhtarlar toplantılarındaki
söylemleri yoluyla Erdoğan’ın dış politika mesajlarını analiz edecek ve
kendisinin dış politika ideolojisi hakkındaki iki tartışmalı soruya cevap
arayacaktır: kendisinin İslamcı olup olmadığı ve Türkiye’nin dış politika
yöneliminin değişip değişmediği.

References

  • (for the texts of Erdoğan’s mukhtars meetings speeches)Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı. https://www.tccb.gov.tr/receptayyiperdogan/konusmalar/.
  • Ahren, Raphael. 2017. “Ex-Defense Chief: Erdogan is ‘Deliberately Islamicizing’ Europe in Bid for World Domination.” The Times of Israel. June 6. http://www.timesofisrael.com/an-ex-defense-chief-sees-europe-deliberately-islamicized-at-turkeys-hand/.
  • Akgün, Mensur. 2010. “Turkey: What Axis Shift?” Le Monde Diplomatique. July 9. http://kit.mondediplo.com/spip.php?article5676.
  • Akyol, Mustafa. 2015. “Unraveling the AKP’s ‘Mastermind’ Conspiracy Theory.” Al-Monitor. March 19. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/03/turkey-zion-protocols-akp-version.html.
  • __________. 2016. “How Islamic Will Erdogan’s Presidential System Be?” Al-Monitor. December 9. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/12/turkey-islamic-erdogans-presidential-system-will-be.html.
  • Aras, Bülent. “The Davutoğlu Era in Turkish Foreign Policy.” Insight Turkey 11, no. 3 (2009): 127-142.
  • Aydın-Düzgit, Senem, and Evren Balta. “Turkey After the July 15th Coup Attempt: When Elites Polarize Over Polarization.” İstanbul Policy Center (April 2017). http://research.sabanciuniv.edu/33176/1/Aydin-Duzgit_Balta_When_Elites_Polarize_Over_Polarization-1.pdf.
  • Baser, Ekrem T. “Shift-of-Axis in Turkish Foreign Policy: Turkish National Role Conceptions Before and During AKP Rule.” Turkish Studies 16, no. 3 (2015): 291-309.
  • Belge, Murat. 2015. “Ona Görev Vermem.” İlke Haber. August 30. http://www.ilkehaber.com/yazi/ona-gorev-vermem-14159.htm.
  • Bianet. 2015. “HDP’li Oluç: Muhtarlar İktidarın Ajanı Değil.” August 13. https://bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/166790-hdp-li-oluc-muhtarlar-iktidarin-ajani-degil.
  • Bilgin, Ayata. “Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Arab World: Rise and Fall of a Regional Actor?” Journal of European Integration 37, no. 1 (2015): 95-112.
  • Cagaptay, Soner. 2009. “The AKP’s Foreign Policy: The Misnomer of “Neo-Ottomanism”.” The Washington Institute. April 24. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-akps-foreign-policy-the-misnomer-of-neo-ottomanism.
  • Cagaptay, Soner, and Mark Parris. 2003. “Turkey after the Iraq War: Still a U.S. Ally?” The Washington Institute. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/turkey-after-the-iraq-war-still-a-u.s.-ally.
  • Cohen, Ariel. “Washington Concerned as Turkey Leaving the West.” Turkish Policy Quarterly 9, no. 3 (2010): 25-35.
  • Cohen, Matthew S. “Ahmet Davutoglu’s Academic and Professional Articles: Understanding the World View of Turkey’s Former Prime Minister.” Turkish Studies 17, no. 4 (2016): 527-543.
  • Cornell, Svante E. “What Drives Turkish Foreign Policy? Changes in Turkey.” The Middle East Quarterly 19, no. 1 (2012): 13-24.
  • Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi. 2015. “Oran; “Erdoğan, ‘Muhtarlar Bahane, Siyaset Şahane’ Mantığıyla Hareket Etmektedir” Dedi.” April 27. https://www.chp.org.tr/Haberler/4/muhtarlar-bahane-siyaset-sahane-1089.aspx\.
  • Davutoğlu, Ahmet. Stratejik Derinlik: Türkiye’nin Uluslararası Konumu. İstanbul: Küre Yayınları, 2010.
  • Dugin, Aleksandr. İnsanlığın Ön Cephesi: Avrasya. Ankara: Kaynak Yayınları, 2017.
  • En Son Haber. (2015). “Erdoğan’ın Muhtarlar Toplantısında Bir Muhtar Ağladı.” September 29. http://www.ensonhaber.com/erdoganin-muhtarlar-toplantisinda-bir-muhtar-agladi-2015-09-29.html.
  • Göküş, Mehmet, Erdal Bayrakcı, and Hakan Alptürker. “Mahalle Yönetimi ve Mahalle Muhtarlarının Vatandaşlar Tarafından Değerlendirilmesi.” Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi 18, no.2 (2013): 31-45.
  • Görener, Aylin Ş., and Meltem Ş. Ucal. “The Personality and Leadership Style of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.” Turkish Studies 12, no. 3 (2011): 357-381.
  • Hazar, Bekir. 2017. “Terörist Dolar.” Takvim. January 13. http://www.takvim.com.tr/yazarlar/bekirhazar/2017/01/13/terorist-dolar.
  • İdiz, Semih. 2013. “The ‘Sunnification’ of Turkish Foreign Policy.” Al-Monitor. March 1. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/akp-sunni-foreign-policy-turkey-sectarianism.html.
  • İzgöer, Ahmet Zeki. Müslüman, Osmanlı ve Modern: Ahmet Cevdet Paşa. İstanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2014.
  • Müftüler-Baç, Meltem. “The New Face of Turkey: The Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications of November 2002 Elections.” East European Quarterly 37, no. 4 (2004): 421-438.
  • Kadir Has Üniversitesi. 2017. “Türk Dış Politikası Kamuoyu Algıları Araştırması.” http://www.khas.edu.tr/w243/files/TDP-Sunum_vfinal.pptx.
  • Kanat, Kılıç Buğra. “AK Party’s Foreign Policy: Is Turkey Turning Away from the West?” Insight Turkey 12, no. 1 (2010): 205-225.
  • Karaveli, Halil M. 2013. “Erdogan Stokes the Sectarian Fires.” New York Times. October 7. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/opinion/erdogan-stokes-the-sectarian-fires.html.
  • Kirişçi, Kemal. “The Transformation of Turkish Foreign Policy: The Rise of the Trading State.” New Perspectives on Turkey 40 (2009): 29-57.
  • Koçberber, Seyit. “Yeni Belediye Yasası ve Mahalle Yönetimi.” Sayıştay Dergisi 56 (2005): 103-114.
  • Luttwak, Edward. 2016. “Erdogan’s Purge is a Sectarian War.” Foreign Policy. August 3. http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/03/erdogans-purge-is-a-sectarian-war-turkey-gulen.
  • Mamou, Yves. 2017. “Islamization of Europe: Erdogan’s New Muslim Political Network.” Gatestone Institute. June 11. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10509/france-islamic-party.
  • Nader, Alireza. 2016. “What Erdogan and Khomeini Have in Common.” Foreign Policy. August 24. http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/24/what-erdogan-and-khomeini-have-in-common-turkey-coup-iran.
  • NTV. 2016. “Uçak Krizi Sonrası Türk-Rus İlişkilerinde Neler Yaşandı?” August 9. http://www.ntv.com.tr/dunya/ucak-krizi-sonrasi-turk-rus-iliskilerinde-neler-yasandi,nqUpARHsW0Sizw9Jx9LgZQ.
  • __________. 2016. “Eski Genelkurmay Başkanı Koşaner Neden İstifa Ettiğini Anlattı.” October 26. https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/eski-genelkurmay-baskani-kosaner-neden-istifa-ettigini-anlatti,kX9f2WiKGkmF4rS_npX91w.
  • Özcan, Mesut, and Ali Resul Usul. “Understanding the ‘New’ Turkish Foreign Policy: Changes within Continuity, Is Turkey Departing from the West?” USAK Yearbook 4 (2011): 159-185.
  • Raptopoulos, Nikolaos. “Rediscovering Its Arab Neighbors? The AKP Imprint on Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East.” Les Cahiers du Rmes 1, no. 1 (2004): 1-13.
  • Stein, Aaron. Turkey’s New Foreign Policy: Davutoglu, the AKP and the Pursuit of Regional Order. Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis, 2014.
  • __________. 2014. “Turkey’s Failed Foreign Policy.” The New York Times. August 22. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/opinion/turkeys-failed-foreign-policy.html.
  • Toker, Çiğdem. 2015. “Muhtarlar Toplantısı.” Cumhuriyet. September 30. http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/koseyazisi/378409/Muhtarlar_toplantisi.html.
  • Tüfekçi, Özgür. “Turkish Eurasianism: Roots and Discourses,” in Özgür Tüfekçi, Hüsrev Tabak and Erman Akıllı, eds., Eurasian Politics and Society: Issues and Challenges. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017.
  • Yenigün, Cüneyt, and Ertan Efegil, eds. Türkiye’nin Değişen Dış Politikası. Ankara: Nobel Yayıncılık, 2010.
  • Yılmaz, Salih, and Evgeniy Bahrevskiy. Rusya ve Türkiye: Avrasya Paktı Mümkün mü? Ankara: SRT Yayınları, 2017.
  • Zanotti, Jim, and Clayton Thomas. 2017. “Turkey: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief.” CRS Report. March 21. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R44000.pdf.

Framing a Presidential Foreign Policy in a Parliamentary System: Erdoğan and Mukhtars’ Meetings

Year 2018, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 65 - 92, 28.12.2018
https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.463012

Abstract



During the period between his election as the
Turkish president in August 2014 and the constitutional referendum that
introduced a presidential system in Turkey in April 2017, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
tried to demonstrate that he would not be a symbolic political figure in
Turkish politics as many former Turkish presidents had been. Instead, he would
keep shaping the domestic and foreign agenda of the country, as it would happen
in a presidential system. One of the main ways he did this was through a series
of mukhtars’ meetings, which began in January 2015. From that point, until the
desired changes to the constitution were approved through public referendum,
Erdoğan held thirty-seven mukhtars’ meetings. In these meetings he gave
speeches about Turkish domestic and foreign policy directly to a group of
mukhtars but, more importantly, indirectly to the Turkish public and foreign
actors. This article will analyze Erdoğan’s foreign policy messages through his
discourse in the mukhtars’ meetings and try to answer two controversial
questions regarding his foreign policy ideology: Whether he is an Islamist and
whether he is shifting the foreign policy axis of Turkey.

References

  • (for the texts of Erdoğan’s mukhtars meetings speeches)Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı. https://www.tccb.gov.tr/receptayyiperdogan/konusmalar/.
  • Ahren, Raphael. 2017. “Ex-Defense Chief: Erdogan is ‘Deliberately Islamicizing’ Europe in Bid for World Domination.” The Times of Israel. June 6. http://www.timesofisrael.com/an-ex-defense-chief-sees-europe-deliberately-islamicized-at-turkeys-hand/.
  • Akgün, Mensur. 2010. “Turkey: What Axis Shift?” Le Monde Diplomatique. July 9. http://kit.mondediplo.com/spip.php?article5676.
  • Akyol, Mustafa. 2015. “Unraveling the AKP’s ‘Mastermind’ Conspiracy Theory.” Al-Monitor. March 19. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/03/turkey-zion-protocols-akp-version.html.
  • __________. 2016. “How Islamic Will Erdogan’s Presidential System Be?” Al-Monitor. December 9. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/12/turkey-islamic-erdogans-presidential-system-will-be.html.
  • Aras, Bülent. “The Davutoğlu Era in Turkish Foreign Policy.” Insight Turkey 11, no. 3 (2009): 127-142.
  • Aydın-Düzgit, Senem, and Evren Balta. “Turkey After the July 15th Coup Attempt: When Elites Polarize Over Polarization.” İstanbul Policy Center (April 2017). http://research.sabanciuniv.edu/33176/1/Aydin-Duzgit_Balta_When_Elites_Polarize_Over_Polarization-1.pdf.
  • Baser, Ekrem T. “Shift-of-Axis in Turkish Foreign Policy: Turkish National Role Conceptions Before and During AKP Rule.” Turkish Studies 16, no. 3 (2015): 291-309.
  • Belge, Murat. 2015. “Ona Görev Vermem.” İlke Haber. August 30. http://www.ilkehaber.com/yazi/ona-gorev-vermem-14159.htm.
  • Bianet. 2015. “HDP’li Oluç: Muhtarlar İktidarın Ajanı Değil.” August 13. https://bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/166790-hdp-li-oluc-muhtarlar-iktidarin-ajani-degil.
  • Bilgin, Ayata. “Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Arab World: Rise and Fall of a Regional Actor?” Journal of European Integration 37, no. 1 (2015): 95-112.
  • Cagaptay, Soner. 2009. “The AKP’s Foreign Policy: The Misnomer of “Neo-Ottomanism”.” The Washington Institute. April 24. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-akps-foreign-policy-the-misnomer-of-neo-ottomanism.
  • Cagaptay, Soner, and Mark Parris. 2003. “Turkey after the Iraq War: Still a U.S. Ally?” The Washington Institute. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/turkey-after-the-iraq-war-still-a-u.s.-ally.
  • Cohen, Ariel. “Washington Concerned as Turkey Leaving the West.” Turkish Policy Quarterly 9, no. 3 (2010): 25-35.
  • Cohen, Matthew S. “Ahmet Davutoglu’s Academic and Professional Articles: Understanding the World View of Turkey’s Former Prime Minister.” Turkish Studies 17, no. 4 (2016): 527-543.
  • Cornell, Svante E. “What Drives Turkish Foreign Policy? Changes in Turkey.” The Middle East Quarterly 19, no. 1 (2012): 13-24.
  • Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi. 2015. “Oran; “Erdoğan, ‘Muhtarlar Bahane, Siyaset Şahane’ Mantığıyla Hareket Etmektedir” Dedi.” April 27. https://www.chp.org.tr/Haberler/4/muhtarlar-bahane-siyaset-sahane-1089.aspx\.
  • Davutoğlu, Ahmet. Stratejik Derinlik: Türkiye’nin Uluslararası Konumu. İstanbul: Küre Yayınları, 2010.
  • Dugin, Aleksandr. İnsanlığın Ön Cephesi: Avrasya. Ankara: Kaynak Yayınları, 2017.
  • En Son Haber. (2015). “Erdoğan’ın Muhtarlar Toplantısında Bir Muhtar Ağladı.” September 29. http://www.ensonhaber.com/erdoganin-muhtarlar-toplantisinda-bir-muhtar-agladi-2015-09-29.html.
  • Göküş, Mehmet, Erdal Bayrakcı, and Hakan Alptürker. “Mahalle Yönetimi ve Mahalle Muhtarlarının Vatandaşlar Tarafından Değerlendirilmesi.” Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi 18, no.2 (2013): 31-45.
  • Görener, Aylin Ş., and Meltem Ş. Ucal. “The Personality and Leadership Style of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.” Turkish Studies 12, no. 3 (2011): 357-381.
  • Hazar, Bekir. 2017. “Terörist Dolar.” Takvim. January 13. http://www.takvim.com.tr/yazarlar/bekirhazar/2017/01/13/terorist-dolar.
  • İdiz, Semih. 2013. “The ‘Sunnification’ of Turkish Foreign Policy.” Al-Monitor. March 1. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/akp-sunni-foreign-policy-turkey-sectarianism.html.
  • İzgöer, Ahmet Zeki. Müslüman, Osmanlı ve Modern: Ahmet Cevdet Paşa. İstanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2014.
  • Müftüler-Baç, Meltem. “The New Face of Turkey: The Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications of November 2002 Elections.” East European Quarterly 37, no. 4 (2004): 421-438.
  • Kadir Has Üniversitesi. 2017. “Türk Dış Politikası Kamuoyu Algıları Araştırması.” http://www.khas.edu.tr/w243/files/TDP-Sunum_vfinal.pptx.
  • Kanat, Kılıç Buğra. “AK Party’s Foreign Policy: Is Turkey Turning Away from the West?” Insight Turkey 12, no. 1 (2010): 205-225.
  • Karaveli, Halil M. 2013. “Erdogan Stokes the Sectarian Fires.” New York Times. October 7. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/opinion/erdogan-stokes-the-sectarian-fires.html.
  • Kirişçi, Kemal. “The Transformation of Turkish Foreign Policy: The Rise of the Trading State.” New Perspectives on Turkey 40 (2009): 29-57.
  • Koçberber, Seyit. “Yeni Belediye Yasası ve Mahalle Yönetimi.” Sayıştay Dergisi 56 (2005): 103-114.
  • Luttwak, Edward. 2016. “Erdogan’s Purge is a Sectarian War.” Foreign Policy. August 3. http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/03/erdogans-purge-is-a-sectarian-war-turkey-gulen.
  • Mamou, Yves. 2017. “Islamization of Europe: Erdogan’s New Muslim Political Network.” Gatestone Institute. June 11. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10509/france-islamic-party.
  • Nader, Alireza. 2016. “What Erdogan and Khomeini Have in Common.” Foreign Policy. August 24. http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/24/what-erdogan-and-khomeini-have-in-common-turkey-coup-iran.
  • NTV. 2016. “Uçak Krizi Sonrası Türk-Rus İlişkilerinde Neler Yaşandı?” August 9. http://www.ntv.com.tr/dunya/ucak-krizi-sonrasi-turk-rus-iliskilerinde-neler-yasandi,nqUpARHsW0Sizw9Jx9LgZQ.
  • __________. 2016. “Eski Genelkurmay Başkanı Koşaner Neden İstifa Ettiğini Anlattı.” October 26. https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/eski-genelkurmay-baskani-kosaner-neden-istifa-ettigini-anlatti,kX9f2WiKGkmF4rS_npX91w.
  • Özcan, Mesut, and Ali Resul Usul. “Understanding the ‘New’ Turkish Foreign Policy: Changes within Continuity, Is Turkey Departing from the West?” USAK Yearbook 4 (2011): 159-185.
  • Raptopoulos, Nikolaos. “Rediscovering Its Arab Neighbors? The AKP Imprint on Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East.” Les Cahiers du Rmes 1, no. 1 (2004): 1-13.
  • Stein, Aaron. Turkey’s New Foreign Policy: Davutoglu, the AKP and the Pursuit of Regional Order. Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis, 2014.
  • __________. 2014. “Turkey’s Failed Foreign Policy.” The New York Times. August 22. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/opinion/turkeys-failed-foreign-policy.html.
  • Toker, Çiğdem. 2015. “Muhtarlar Toplantısı.” Cumhuriyet. September 30. http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/koseyazisi/378409/Muhtarlar_toplantisi.html.
  • Tüfekçi, Özgür. “Turkish Eurasianism: Roots and Discourses,” in Özgür Tüfekçi, Hüsrev Tabak and Erman Akıllı, eds., Eurasian Politics and Society: Issues and Challenges. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017.
  • Yenigün, Cüneyt, and Ertan Efegil, eds. Türkiye’nin Değişen Dış Politikası. Ankara: Nobel Yayıncılık, 2010.
  • Yılmaz, Salih, and Evgeniy Bahrevskiy. Rusya ve Türkiye: Avrasya Paktı Mümkün mü? Ankara: SRT Yayınları, 2017.
  • Zanotti, Jim, and Clayton Thomas. 2017. “Turkey: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief.” CRS Report. March 21. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R44000.pdf.
There are 45 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Makaleler
Authors

Murat Ülgül

Publication Date December 28, 2018
Acceptance Date October 17, 2018
Published in Issue Year 2018 Volume: 5 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Ülgül, M. (2018). Framing a Presidential Foreign Policy in a Parliamentary System: Erdoğan and Mukhtars’ Meetings. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi, 5(2), 65-92. https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.463012

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