Competing and Co-Existing Constructions of Europe as Turkey’s ‘Other(s)’ in Turkish Political Discourse

The paper analyses the various ways in which Europe/the EU is represented as Turkey's Other in the discourse of the four main Turkish political parties. The analysis is carried out according to the definition of five forms of Othering in International Relations proposed by Diez (2005) and Manners (2006) as well as the conception of Other as superior proposed, for instance, by Zarakol (2011). In contrast to traditional Kemalist discourse, which tends to view Europe as both threat and civilisational model, AKP discourse in particular tends to frame Europe as inferior and as belonging to a different civilisation, thus revealing a more self-confident, inclusive and Islamist national identity discourse.