FROM CITIZENSHIP TO NATION: THE TRANSFORMATION OF GOVERNMENT CONCEPTUALIZATIONS IN THE “NEW” TURKEY

Abstract

The government led by the Party of Justice and Development (AKP) has ushered in new aspects to the Turkish Republic's concept of citizenship, a change that especially took on added dimensions after the coup attempt of July 15, 2016. Since assuming power in 2002 the AKP has claimed its inheritance of Ottoman Empire legacy and has thus sought ways to appeal to all the various segments of Turkish society. By adopting Neo- Ottomanism, the AKP initiated a conceptual transformation that still continues today. The resurgence of aspects of the Empire’s traditional conceptualization citizenship has thus served to replace the conceptualizations of "One Nation" that appeared with the establishment of the ‘New Turkey’ of the Turkish Republic.