Securitization of secularism in military interventions in Türkiye

Secularism has been the most debated concept among the basic qualities of the state in Turkey. Secularism, which has been encapsulated in stereotypical definitions such as the separation of religion and state affairs, provided a useful space for bringing the religious sphere under state control, especially in the first periods of the Republic. In the modernization process that started in the Ottoman Empire and accelerated in the Republican period, it is possible to see traces of secularism in almost every innovation. However, secularism, whose content, areas of application and scope could not be clearly defined, was used politically and rhetorically in Turkish political life. Thus, the concept of secularism has been transformed into a means of legitimization. The subject of this study is to examine the military interventions in Turkish political life through the securitization theory through the transformation of secularism into a tool of legitimacy. In military interventions, which can be considered among both the causes and consequences of the failure to institutionalize democracy in Turkey, the military's search for justification and legitimacy stands out. The military's direct intervention in the political sphere through coups or its desire to shape the political sphere through memorandums of memorandums has brought the political sphere to dead ends. This study aims to reveal how secularism provides a political function during periods of military intervention and to evaluate secularism, which directly/indirectly affects the starting point of military interventions, through the securitization theory. The prominent element in securitization theory is discourses. Accordingly, the study analyzed the discourses through which secularism was securitized during periods of military interventions. Since it is planned to examine the relationship between military interventions and secularism through the securitization theory, the discourse analysis method was used. The prominence of discourses in securitization theory was taken as a basis in determining the vi method of the study. The discourse analysis method was used to reveal how secularism was securitized in military interventions through which concepts and which discourses of secularism were used directly. As a result of the analysis in the study, it has been determined that secularism offers a useful space in military interventions and is subject to discourses through religious symbols and rituals. Keywords: Secularism, Military Intervention, Securitization.