Negative political advertising applications in Turkey:(A analysis on the (2007, 2011 and 2015 general elections sample)

The aim of political advertising is to influence the behavior of voters towards attitudes, thoughts and rhetoric towards the political party or the candidate. This goal, which is based on the concept of persuasion, aims voters to vote for their political party or candidates through the use of various methods of political communication. Negative political advertising, a type of political advertising, is one of the methods that parties and candidates resort to depending on the atmosphere of the period. The aim of this study was to examine the AKP-CHP-MHP in general elections between 2007 and 2015; the examples of negative political advertisements published in Hürriyet, Cumhuriyet and Türkiye newspapers are tried to be investigated from the perspective of semiotics by means of content analysis. In the study, evaluations were made on the message strategies used by the parties in the cases of negative political ads, the main trends in the foreground of the advertisements used, and the formal (color, photograph, emblem, slogan usage, etc.) variables of the advertisements. As a result of the analyzes, the ruling party and the opposition parties in their advertisements on the economy, transportation, corruption, unemployment, social security and political participation etc., they have criticized each other through negative advertising strategies.