Constructing the security culture in Türkiye and securitization: The Kemalists

This study aims to analyze how the Kemalists, as a dominant ideological actor in Turkiye's political life, have adopted securitization as a means of shaping politics and society in line with their objectives of "ensuring the security of the regime", "preserving and sustaining their political power" and "establishing the hegemony of their ideology." The study identifies the military, political elites, bureaucracy, civil society organizations, political institutions, media, and academics as the main actors in the process of Kemalist securitization. In addition to examining Kemalist securitization in Türkiye, this study emphasizes the significance of uncovering the dynamics that produce the 'security culture' and 'security discourse', which create a legitimizing foundation for securitization. The study posits that these dynamics are at least as important as the process of securitization itself. It argues that Türkiye's security culture is rooted in historical, cultural, and ontological foundations. In this context, the study highlights that securitization cannot be understood independently from dominant knowledge-power relations, the state's identity and ideology, or its political and strategic culture. Furthermore, the study aims to explore the role of security culture as a facilitator and legitimizer of securitization, revealing its constitutive power and discursive functioning. The central hypothesis tested in this thesis is: "In Türkiye, securitization has been constructed by the Kemalists through both a bottom-up and top-down process." In this study, process tracing is used to uncover how the securitization process has been constructed, supported by discourse analysis of the securitizing narratives and content analysis. Additionally, the study examines political developments in Türkiye between 1923-2000, focusing on threats directed towards key referent objects identified as "reactionism, Islam, backwardness, and ethnic diversity," and assesses the period-specific characteristics of Kemalist securitization. This dissertation concludes that the political, legal, and cultural implications of Kemalist securitization in Türkiye have contributed to the deepening of a culture of insecurity rather than the fostering of a democratic political culture, ultimately leading to the entrenchment of a conflictual societal structure. Keywords: Securitization, Türkiye, Security Culture, Kemalism.