Nationalist Action Party and the Politics of Dissent

Abstract

All political parties tend to use different types of discourses to legitimize themselves and to mobilize their supporters. These discourses may not properly fit to their ideologies, but as they seek the support of the vast majority of society, they may refer to the policies and values of other ideological camps. In Turkey, the MHP is the most influential actor of extreme right politics. Its ideology depends on nationalism and Turkishness and the party mobilizes a considerable population by appealing to nationalist feelings. On the other hand, the MHP tries to transform itself into a vote-seeking catch-all party and aims to broaden its social base. For this reason, MHP’s political strategy combines nationalist and conservative values with rather moderate ones and even ‘leftist’ ones. Our study which focuses on the political discourse that the MHP has adopted in the last four general elections demonstrates that elements that can be considered as “leftist” are also a part of the MHP discourse. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n8p552