Orientalism in Turkish political election campaigns

Abstract

This chapter studies the use of orientalist elements in advertisements of Turkish political parties as a reaction to the orientalist approach of the West based on examples. It is observed that especially the right-wing parties frequently use orientalist elements in political advertisements during election periods in Turkey. These orientalist elements usually consist of large historical mosque figures and Ottoman motives. However these orientalist elements are presented together with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Turkish satellites unmanned aircraft and modern city views to establish a connection between the past and future and show developed and contemporary aspects of Turkey. Thus it is hinted to the West that a Muslim country taking pride in its past can also be a contemporary and developed country. The present study is focused on orientalism reflections in Turkish political election campaigns and aims to reveal orientalist elements and orientalist perspective that are common in election campaigns. © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.