Erdoğanism

As a personified version of conservative democracy, key ideals of Erdoğanism include a religious inspired strong centralised leadership based primarily on electoral consent and less so on the separation of powers and institutional checks and balances.[5] Critics have often referred to Erdoğan's political outlook as authoritarian and as an elective dictatorship. The election-centric outlook of Erdoğanism has often been described as an illiberal democracy by foreign leaders, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.[6][7]

Erdoğanism is also strongly influenced by the desire to establish a 'New Turkey', departing from the founding Kemalist principles of the Turkish Republic and abolishing key enshrined constitutional ideals that are at odds with Erdoğan's vision, such as secularism.[8] Supporters of Erdoğanism often call for a revival of cultural and traditional values from the Ottoman Empire and are critical of the pro-western social reforms and modernisation initiated by the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Grassroots support for Erdoğanism mainly originates from the development of a cult of personality around Erdoğan, as well as the predominance of charismatic authority. The role of Erdoğan personified as an individual agent of Turkish conservative values has manifested itself in the form of prominent campaign slogans for the Turkish Presidential election such as "Man of the nation", translated in Turkish as "Milletin Adamı".

A wall rug of Erdoğan, whose ideals and political agenda have come to be referred to as 'Erdoğanism', at a rally of the Justice and Development Party

The term 'Erdoğanism' first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AK Party's conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality.[9] The usage of the term increased in conjunction with a greater recognition of Erdoğan on the global stage, mostly due to his proactive foreign policy ideals based on Neo-Ottomanism, a core factor that Erdoğanism encompasses.[10]

Mustafa Akyol has conceived Erdoğanism as an ideology fundamentally based on a cult of personality around Erdoğan, referring to it as a form of populist authoritarianism similar to that of Putinism in Russia. Akyol also describes the glorification of the Ottoman Empire, Islamism, Turkish nationalism, suspicion of western political intervention in the Middle East, the rejection of Kemalism, and confinement of the democratic process and elections as key attributes of Erdoğanism.[11] For other scholars the anti-Kemalist political direction is equaled with anti-Westernism.[12]

• Euroscepticism
• Anti-Western sentiment
• Conservative democracy
• Conservatism in Turkey

• "The Myth of 'New Turkey': Kemalism and Erdoganism as Two Sides of the Same Coin". Dr. Ceren Şengül. News About Turkey.