Formation of security discourse in Turkey: An investigation of parlimentary minutes (Turkish national assembly) 1978-2002

This research explores how Turkish political elites' discourse constructs social groups as a security threat. The purpose is to understand the exclusionary strategy adopted by political elites towards ethnic and political groups. This research claims that the Copenhagen School securitization theory provides fresh insight to recognize a chronic Turkish political condition. This research proposes to move away from the realist approaches focusing too much on inter-state conflicts and falling short to explain intra-state conflicts. The research offers an exploration of the securitization discourse adopted by political elites through the lens of social security. The focus of this study is on how political elites mobilize ethnic, religious, linguistic and ideological divisions from the perspective of securitization theory. The research argues that each of social groups is referred to as a threat in the parliamentary discourse that is consequently associated with different referent objects. Political leaders establish that specific groups constitute a threat when a group identity challenges a referent object associated with national identity and state sovereignty. Parliamentary discourse, therefore, legitimizes taking "extraordinary measures" deemed necessary by political elites whenever the questions of national identity and state sovereignty are at stake. Whenever specific groups challenge the main pillars of national identity and sovereignty such as territory, ethnicity, language, religion, and regime, political elites "securitize" the social groups taking extraordinary measures aimed at protecting these pillars. More broadly, this thesis paves the way for more research on how violence is legitimized in ethnically, linguistically and religiously diverse societies. It, therefore, contributes to the literature on elite strategies and violence in divided societies rife with conflict.