An analysis of leader image in general elections in the Turkish press: Example of Tansu Çiller

In today's world, where political party programs are increasingly similar to each other, the image of the party leader has been the main factor that makes the difference.In the current study, the leader image of Tansu Çiller in the print media, who was one of the main actresses on the political scene in the 1990s and the first female prime minister of Turkey, was analyzed. Within the scope of the analysis, by benefitting from Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, and Türkiye newspapers, the leader image of Tansu Çiller was investigated, starting from June 14, 1993, when Tansu Çiller was elected as the leader of the Doğru Yol Partisi, the general elections in 1995, 1999, and November 3, 2002, which was the last general election in which Tansu Çiller participated, by using content analysis method. During the study, both the leader image of Tansu Çiller through the print media was tackled, as well as the perspective of Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, and Türkiye newspapers, which created this image, were evaluated. As a result of the investigation, there was stability throughout the process in the qualities that Cumhuriyet and Türkiye newspapers highlighted in Tansu Çiller's leader image, while there were sharp ups and downs in Hürriyet newspaper. Throughout the process, while Cumhuriyet highlighted the negative leader characteristics, Türkiye underscored the positive leader characteristics of Tansu Çiller. On the contrary, Hürriyet emphasized positive leader characteristics in the vote of confidence in 1993, negative leader characteristics in the general elections in 1995 and 1999, and lastly, positive leader characteristics in the general elections in 2002.