AKP’s Neo-Ottomanism: A Constitutive Component of Neoliberal Hegemony in Turkey?

Since 2002, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) has enjoyed an uninterrupted rule in Turkey. Over the years, it has increased its dominance over society by implementing its agenda and winning every parliamentary election. The party abandoned the traditional conduct of foreign policy in Turkey shaped by Kemalism, setting on course for a new foreign policy orientation. The key research question is: “How does AKP’s foreign policy contribute to the consolidation of neoliberal hegemony in Turkey? This thesis has employed the ‘Hegemony’ concept developed by the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci as a useful theoretical lens to understand the foreign policy tools used by the AKP concerning Neo-Ottomanism and the constitution and preservation of its domestic hegemony. This thesis focuses on the relationship between foreign policy and domestic policy and the effects of AKP’s foreign policy on the neoliberal hegemony in Turkey. It has focused on how AKP’s Neo-Ottomanism and the use of Sunni values in the Middle East have provided consent for the neoliberal hegemony. It has also argued that AKP’s Neo-Ottomanist foreign policy has contributed to the capital accumulation process and has provided the bourgeoisie with economic gains, serving the neoliberal hegemony of the bourgeoisie in Turkey.