Contemporary Turkey in Conflict

Abstract

Explores ethnicity, politics and Islam in Turkey in the 21st-century New perspectives on ethnic relations, Islam and neoliberalism have emerged in Turkey since the rise of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2002. Placing the period within its historical and contemporary context, Tahir Abbas argues that what it is to be ethnically, religiously and culturally Turkish has been transformed. He explores how issues of political trust, social capital and intolerance towards minorities have characterised Turkey in the early years of the 21st-century. He shows how a radical neoliberal economic and conservative outlook has materialised, leading to a clash over the religious, political and cultural direction of Turkey. These conflicts are defining the future of the nation. Key features Uses original qualitative data and observational analysis of the Gezi Park protests of 2013 and of a Kurdish community in the southeast of Turkey to explore aspects of political resistance and mobilisation Analyses attitudes and perceptions of Turkish respondents based on survey data from the European Social Survey Includes case studies to provide an insight on intergroup relations, social conflict and cultural cohesion in Turkey Offers an important contribution to the discussion of Islamism, capitalism and democracy in Turkey