Flags and traitors: The advance of ethno-nationalism in the Turkish self-image


ÇIRAKMAN DEVECİ A.

ETHNIC AND RACIAL STUDIES, vol.34, no.11, pp.1894-1912, 2011 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 34 Issue: 11
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/01419870.2011.556746
  • Journal Name: ETHNIC AND RACIAL STUDIES
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.1894-1912
  • Keywords: Turkey, self-image, enemy within, flag, ethnic nationalism, secular nationalism, TURKEY
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper examines a peculiar change in the Turkish self-image towards an ethno-nationalist discourse in the 2000s. In Turkish public life one may find various manifestations of a self-promoting ethnocentric world view alongside expressions of xenophobic feelings against the so-called enemies within and without. This study explores a certain transition from a modernist and secular self-image to an ethnocentric self-regard with reference to nationalist best sellers, TV series, public displays of slogans, and flagging incidents in the 2000s.