Unpuzzling Populism in Erdogan’s Discourse on Turkey–European Union Relations

• Published in: Czech Journal of International Relations (On-line) 2024-05
• Main Authors: Canveren, Onder, Kaiser, André
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2788-2985; 2788-2993
• DOI: 10.32422/cjir.822

Political leaders have extensively adopted populist themes in their foreign policy discourses with several motivations, such as foreign policy revisionism, domestic mobilisation, and personalisation of foreign policy. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a prime example of this trend, particularly since the failed coup attempt in 2016. This article analyses Turkey's relationship with the European Union (EU) by deciphering populist themes in his discourses. Thematic discourse analysis is performed on speeches and statements from various data sources using a deductive codebook. In Erdogan's speeches, people-centrism, partnership diversification, general will, positive partisanship, and personalisation appear as unique populist characteristics. The analysis demonstrates that populist discourses support the image of strong leadership as the 'genuine' representation of people's rights and interests. Foreign policy revisionism has a modest impact (partnership diversification and general will). However, domestic mobilisation is hardly noticeable, save for positive partisanship during election campaigns and the agenda on Syria and counterterrorism.