The AK Party years and the transformation of center-periphery relations

The Centre-Periphery Theory was introduced to the political literature by the American sociologist Edward Shils. According to this theory, which analyses political processes through class struggle, every society has a centre and a value-based power struggle takes place between the actors in the centre and the peripheral actors outside this area. In contrast to Shils, Şerif Mardin, who adapted the centre-periphery approach to the political history of Turkey, analysed Turkish political life and the system of governance through the ruler-governed. It has been determined that there are not enough academic studies on the centralisation of the periphery during the AK Party years in the context of the transformation of centre-periphery relations in Turkey. The main problematic of this thesis is how the traditional centre has been reproduced in favour of the periphery through the policies of the AK Party governments (2002-present). Using the instrumentality of the centre-periphery theory, this study seeks answers to the following research questions: 1) What are the basic dynamics and claims of the centre-periphery theory? 2) What are the prominent dynamics in the course of centre-periphery relations in Türkiye in the historical process? What is the meaning of the use of the centre-periphery concept in this process? 3) How does the AK Party period fit into the centralisation of the periphery? Why is this period important for the periphery and how can the course of these relations be periodised when examining this period through centre-periphery relations? How and in what context can the AK Party period be explained around this concept set? In this context, in the concluding part of the study, it is concluded that the periphery's goal of becoming a determinant in the centre with its own values was tried to be prevented by traditional central actors, but the periphery has become centralised with the AK Party period as a result of a cumulative struggle over the years against these obstacles.