The political and economic role of the state in the application of neo-liberal policies in Turkey: Comparison of Motherland Party (1983-1989) and Justice and Development Party (2003-2011) periods

As we enter the twenty-first century, it is accepted that there are great changes in the world. It can be said that the two important factors of this change are neo-liberalism and globalization. Both phenomena have had important effects on societies, especially on the nation. Towards the end of the 1970's the capitalist system in the world which suffered from clogging started new searches and found what it was looking for in the "New Right". Neo-liberalism, which started in the UK and the USA, first showed its effect in developed countries and then in underdeveloped countries. However, its real development occurred with the formation of unipolar order after the Cold War and globalization that developed simultaneously. Due to Turkey's position in this unipolar and globalized world, the new system showed differences in domestic policy. After 1980 Turkey has undergone a transformation in terms of integration with the new world order. It can be said that the Motherland Party led by Turgut Özal and the Justice and Development Party led by R. Tayyip Erdoğan played the biggest role in this change; known by their rightest and conservative aspects both of the parties in power attract attention by applying the neoliberal policies and putting efforts to be added to the global system in terms of economy and politics. With the applied policy Turkey, by abandoning the traditional understanding of the state, had the opportunity to be the competitive regional power. Keywords: State, Neo-liberalism, New Right, Globalization, Motherland Party, Justice and Development Party.