Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:51:43.925Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

More than a feeling: Emotional responses to international criticism in Erdoğan’s Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2016

Deepa Prakash  and
Asli Ilgit
Deepa Prakash*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Political Science, DePauw University
Asli Ilgit*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, International Relations, Çukurova University
*
* Correspondence to: Deepa Prakash, Department of Political Science, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana 46135, US. Author’s email: [email protected]
** Correspondence to: Asli Ilgit, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Çukurova University, Saricam, Adana 01330, Turkey. Author’s email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Extant studies suggest that criticism of state practices may create ontological crises in states, thus prompting emotional responses. This article examines what happens when target states reject external criticism, and the failure of outside attempts to shame and criticise. We show that recipients can view international criticism as opportunities to consolidate state identity rather than ontological crises. Using Turkey’s foreign policy towards Israel, we focus on the agency of weak states by expanding the range of emotions stemming from non-acceptance of criticism and by emphasising the role of leaders when crafting emotional responses to negative representations.

Keywords

Ontological SecurityIdentityEmotionsCriticismTurkey
Type
Articles
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 130 - 151
Copyright
© British International Studies Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Adler-Nissen, Rebecca, ‘Stigma management in International Relations: Transgressive identities, norms, and order in international society’, International Organization, 68:1 (2014), pp. 143–176 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Zarakol, Ayşe, ‘Ontological (in)security and state denial of historical crimes: Turkey and Japan’, International Relations, 24:1 (2010), pp. 3–23 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Zarakol, Ayşe, ‘What made the modern world hang together: Socialisation or stigmatisation?’, International Theory, 6 (2014), pp. 311–332 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Subotic, Jelena and Zarakol, Ayşe, ‘Cultural intimacy in International Relations’, European Journal of International Relations, 19:4 (2013), pp. 915–938 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 Althusser, Louis, ‘Ideology and state apparatuses’, Lenin and Philosophy (London: Monthly Review Press, 1971)Google Scholar.

3 Adler-Nissen, ‘Stigma management in International Relations’.

4 Western criticism of Turkey on Israel is only one dimension of a discernable trend in recent years of criticism of the Erdoğan regime. We highlight other examples in the concluding section of the article.

5 Finnemore, Martha and Sikkink, Kathryn, ‘International norm dynamics and political change’, International Organization, 52:4 (1998), pp. 887–917 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Dunn, Kevin C., Imagining the Congo: The International Relations of Identity (London: Palgrave, 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Zarakol, ‘Ontological (in)security’.

6 Ausderan, Jacob, ‘How naming and shaming affects human rights perception in the shamed country’, Journal of Peace Research, 51:1 (2014), pp. 81–95 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Meernik, James, Aloisi, Rosa, Sowell, Marsha, and Nichols, Angela, ‘The impact of human rights organizations on naming and shaming campaigns’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 56:2 (2012), pp. 233–256 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hafner-Burton, Emilie, ‘Sticks and stones: Naming and shaming the human rights enforcement problem’, International Organization, 62:4 (2008), pp. 689–716 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lebovic, James H. and Voeten, Erik, ‘The politics of shame: the condemnation of country human rights practices in the UNHCR’, International Studies Quarterly, 50 (2006), pp. 861–888 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Wendt, Alexander, Social Theory of International Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 Neumann, Iver, Uses of the Other (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999)Google Scholar; Bially-Mattern, Janice, Ordering International Politics (New York: Routledge, 2005)Google Scholar.

9 Hopf, Ted, Social Construction of International Politics: Identities & Foreign Policies, Moscow, 1955 and 1999 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002)Google Scholar; Rae, Heather, State Identities and the Homogenisation of Peoples (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Wiener, Antje, ‘Contested meaning of norms: a research framework’, Comparative European Politics, 5 (2007), pp. 1–17 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Adler-Nissen, ‘Stigma management in International Relations’.

11 Adler-Nissen, , ‘Stigma management in International Relations’, p. 144 Google Scholar. There is some overlap between stigma, shaming, criticism, and other negative representations within this literature. Scholars have noted the multi-layered and variable nature of stigma as a concept and phenomenon. Stigma and criticism bear on each other but they are not the same thing. We primarily contend with criticism since we focus on episodes that criticise instances or facets of behaviour (whether of Turkey or of Erdoğan himself), and not fundamental attributes, following Goffman’s canonical definition of stigma. Goffman, Erving, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009)Google Scholar.

12 Acharya, Amitav, The Making of Southeast Asia: International Relations of a Region (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012), p. 201 Google Scholar.

13 Giddens, Anthony, Modernity and Self-Identity (Cambridge: Polity, 1991)Google Scholar; Mitzen, Jennifer, ‘Ontological security in world politics: State identity and the security dilemma’, European Journal of International Relations, 12:3 (2006), pp. 341–370 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Berenskoetter, Felix, ‘Parameters of a national biography’, European Journal of International Relations, 20:1 (2014), pp. 262–288 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Zarakol, ‘Ontological (in)security’.

15 Mitzen, ‘Ontological security in world politics’; Steele, Brent, ‘Ontological security and the power of self-identity: British neutrality and the American Civil War’, Review of International Studies, 31 (2005), pp. 519–540 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Huysmans, Jef, ‘Security! What do you mean?: From concept to thick signifier’, European Journal of International Relations, 4:2 (1998), pp. 226–255 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16 Adler-Nissen, , ‘Stigma management in International Relations’, p. 144 Google Scholar.

17 Subotic and Zarakol, ‘Cultural intimacy in International Relations’.

18 Herzfeld, Michael, ‘The European crisis and cultural intimacy’, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 13:3 (2013), p. 491 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

19 Chacko, Priya, ‘A new special “relationship”? Power transitions, ontological security, and India-U.S. relations’, International Studies Perspectives, 15 (2014), pp. 329–346 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Miller, Manjari Chatterjee, ‘The un-argumentative Indian?: Ideas about the rise of India and the interaction with domestic structures’, India Review, 13:1 (2014), pp. 1–14 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

20 Berenskoetter, ‘Parameters of a national biography’.

21 Adler-Nissen, ‘Stigma management in International Relations’; Zarakol, ‘Ontological (in)security’; Tannewald, Nina, ‘Stigmatizing the bomb: Origins of the nuclear taboo’, International Security, 29:4, (2005), pp. 5–49 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Finnemore and Sikkink, ‘International norm dynamics’.

22 Subotic and Zarakol, ‘Cultural intimacy in International Relations’, p. 918.

23 Reus-Smit, Christian, ‘Emotions and the social’, International Theory, 6 (2014), pp. 568–574 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mercer, Jonathan, ‘Feeling like a state: Social emotion and identity’, International Theory, 6 (2014), pp. 515–535 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Zalewski, Marysia, ‘Theorizing emotion: Affective borders in homeland’, Critical Studies on Security, 1:1 (2013), pp. 133–135 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ahall, Linda and Gregory, Thomas, ‘Security, emotions, affect’, Critical Studies on Security, 1:1 (2013), pp. 117–120 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Crawford, Neta, ‘Emotions and international security: Cave! Hic Libido’, Critical Studies on Security, 1:1 (2013), pp. 121–123 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Crawford, Neta, ‘The passion of world politics: Proposition on emotion and emotional relationships’, International Security, 24:4 (2000), pp. 116–156 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sasley, Brent, ‘Theorizing states’ emotions’, International Studies Review, 13 (2011), pp. 452–476 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bleiker, Roland and Hutchison, Emma, ‘Fear no more: Emotions and world politics’, Review of International Studies, 34 (2008), pp. 115–135 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Saurette, Paul, ‘You dissin me? Humiliation and post 9/11 politics’, Review of International Studies, 32 (2006), pp. 495–522 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

25 Van Rythoven, Eric, ‘Learning to feel, learning to fear? Emotions, imaginaries, and limits in the politics of securitization’, Security Dialogue, 46:5 (2015), pp. 458–475 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

26 Post, Jarold, ‘When hatred is bred in the bone: Psycho-cultural foundations of contemporary terrorism’, Political Psychology, 26:4 (2005), pp. 615–636 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

27 Reus-Smit, ‘Emotions and the social’.

28 Subotic and Zarakol, ‘Cultural intimacy in International Relations’, p. 924.

29 Ibid., p. 929.

30 Bleiker and Hutchison, ‘Fear no more’.

31 Ibid.

32 Adler-Nissen, ‘Stigma management in International Relations’. As we have noted, stigma and criticism are different, yet, related concepts. Adler-Nissen explores how states may reject or counter-stigmatise stigma as strategies of ‘stigma-management’. This dynamic is akin to Subotic and Zarakol’s view of non-acceptance of criticism. More serious is the idea of ‘counter-stigmatisation’ where a state not only rejects stigma but turns it into an emblem of pride. This suggests a wider range of emotional reactions to criticism (which entails behaviour rather than attributes), even for weak states.

33 We thank one of our anonymous reviewers for bringing this point to our attention.

34 Reus-Smit, ‘Emotions and the social’; Sasley, ‘Theorizing states’ emotions’.

35 Hopf, Social construction of International Politics, p. 16.

36 Ibid.; Malici, Akin, When Leaders Learn and When They Don’t: Mikhail Gorbachev and Kim Il Sung at the End of the Cold War (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2008)Google Scholar; Klotz, Audie and Lynch, Cecilia, Strategies for Research in Constructivist International Relations (New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2007), p. 74 Google Scholar; Barnett, Michael, ‘Culture, strategy and foreign policy change: Israel’s road to Oslo’, European Journal of International Relations, 5:1 (1999), p. 15 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

37 Panayırcı, Uğur C. and İşeri, Emre, ‘A content analysis of the AKP’s “honorable” foreign policy discourse: the nexus of domestic–international politics’, Turkish Studies, 15:1 (2014), pp. 62–80 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Görener, Aylin and Ucal, Meltem, ‘The personality and leadership style of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Implications for Turkish Foreign Policy’, Turkish Studies, 12:3 (2011), pp. 357–381 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. It is also pertinent to acknowledge the role of Prime Minister Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu has had a variety of roles such as an academic, adviser, ex-foreign minister and recently Prime Minister and is pivotal in shaping the contours of contemporary Turkish strategic thought.

38 Onar, Nora Fisher, ‘Constructing Turkey Inc.: the discursive anatomy of a domestic and foreign policy agenda’, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 19:4 (2011), pp. 463 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, n. 73; Duran, Burhanettin, ‘Understanding the AK Party’s identity politics: a civilizational discourse and its limitations’, Insight Turkey, 15:1 (2013), pp. 91–109 Google Scholar; Hintz, Lisel, ‘“Take it outside!” National identity contestation in the foreign policy arena’, European Journal of International Relations (2015), pp. 1–27 Google Scholar; Walker, Joshua, ‘Turkey’s changing internal and international dynamics: From “where” to “what”’, SETA Policy Brief, 40 (Ankara, 2009)Google Scholar; Alirıza, Bülent, Chow, Edward, Kuchins, Andrew, Malka, Haim, and Smith, Julianne, Turkey’s Evolving Dynamics: Strategic Choices for US-Turkey Relations, Final Report (Center for Strategic and International Studies, March 2009)Google Scholar.

39 Grigoriadis, Ioannis, ‘Islam and democratization in Turkey: Secularism and trust in a divided society’, Democratization, 16:6 (2009), pp. 1194–1213 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

40 Former EU Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen, quoted in Murat Yetkin, ‘Türkiye’ye Bakış Değişti’, Radikal (10 March 2004), available at: {http://www.radikal.com.tr/yazarlar/murat_yetkin/turkiyeye_bakis_degisti-703637} accessed 20 August 2015.

41 Subotic, Jelena, ‘Narrative, ontological security, and foreign policy change’, Foreign Policy Analysis (2015), pp. 1–18 Google Scholar; Lisel Hintz, ‘Take it outside!’.

42 Zarakol, ‘Ontological (in)security’.

43 Rubin, Barry and Kirişçi, Kemal, Turkey in World Politics: An Emerging Multiregional Power (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001)Google Scholar; Larrabee, Stephen, ‘Turkey rediscovers the Middle East’, Foreign Affairs, 86:4 (2007), pp. 103–114 Google Scholar.

44 The New Turkey Contract 2023, ‘The AK Party’s Political Vision 2023’ (April 2015), available at: {https://www.akparti.org.tr/english/akparti/2023-political-vision} (accessed 18 August 2015).

45 Yanık, Lerna, ‘Constructing Turkish “exceptionalism”: Discourses of liminality and hybridity in post-Cold War Turkish foreign policy’, Political Geography, 30 (2011), pp. 1–10 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hintz, ‘Take it outside!’.

46 Duran, ‘Understanding the AK Party’s Identity Politics’, p. 93.

47 Hintz, ‘Take it outside!’, p. 12.

48 Fisher Onar, ‘Constructing Turkey Inc.’, p. 464.

49 Davutoğlu, Ahmet, ‘Turkey’s foreign policy vision: an assessment of 2007’, Insight Turkey, 10:1 (2008), pp. 77–96 Google Scholar.

50 Recep T. Erdoğan, ‘Turkey as an emerging power’, Business Standard (29 December 2010).

51 Yeşiltaş, Murat, ‘Turkey’s quest for a “new international order”: the discourse of civilization and the politics of restoration’, Perceptions, 19:4 (2014), pp. 43–76 Google Scholar.

52 Türk, Bahadır, Muktedir: Türk Sağ Geleneği ve Recep Tayyip Erdoğan [Authority: The Turkish Right-Wing Tradition and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] (İstanbul: İletişim Press, 2014)Google Scholar.

53 Huntington, Samuel, ‘The clash of civilizations?’, Foreign Affairs, 72:3 (1993), pp. 22–49 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

54 Yanık, ‘Constructing Turkish “exceptionalism”’; Duran, ‘Understanding the AK Party’s identity politics’.

55 Davutoğlu, ‘Turkey’s foreign policy vision’.

56 Erdoğan, ‘Turkey as an emerging power’.

57 Üzer, Umut, ‘Turkish-Israeli relations: their rise and fall’, Middle East Policy, 20:1 (2013), pp. 97–110 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

58 ‘Turkish PM, ‘Obama must rethink definition of mideast terror’, Haaretz (29 January 2009), available at: {http://www.haaretz.com/news/turkish-pm-obama-must-rethink-definition-of-mideast-terror-1.269133} accessed 23 November 2015.

59 Ersin Kalaycıoğlu, ‘New Turkish government and foreign policy’, The German Marshall Fund of the United States: On Turkey Analysis (15 July 2011).

60 Quoted in Duran, ‘Understanding the AK Party’s identity politics’.

61 Türk, Muktedir.

62 Gürsel, Kadri, ‘The cult of Erdoğan’, Al-Monitor (6 August 2014), available at: {http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/gursel-turkey-social-peace-erdogan-cult-polarization-akp.html}Google Scholar accessed 23 November 2015.

63 Aydıntaşbaş, Aslı, ‘Erdogan’s Davos Outburst is Nothing New’ (30 January 2009), available at: {http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/30/erdogan-turkey-davos-opinions-contributors_0130_asli_aydintasbas.html}Google Scholar accessed 23 November 2015; McCoy, Terrence, ‘The many temper tantrums of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’, The Washington Post (31 March 2014)Google Scholar.

64 Görener and Ucal, ‘The personality and leadership style of recep Tayyip Erdoğan’.

65 Aytürk, İlker, ‘Between crises and cooperation: the future of Turkish-Israeli relations’, Insight Turkey 11:2 (2009), pp. 57–74 Google Scholar; Tür, Özlem, ‘Turkey and Israel in the 2000s: From cooperation to conflict’, Israel Studies, 17:3 (2012), pp. 45–66 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Üzer, ‘Turkish-Israeli relations’.

66 Yavuz, Hakan, ‘Turkish-Israeli relations through the lens of the Turkish identity debate’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 27:1 (1997), pp. 22–37 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Balcı, Ali, ‘Turkish foreign policy and Israel: a comparison of 1990s and 2000s’, Ortadoğu Etütleri, 2:2 (2011), pp. 117–136 Google Scholar; Tür, ‘Turkey and Israel in the 2000s’.

67 Tür, ‘Turkey and Israel in the 2000s’.

68 Yavuz, ‘Turkish-Israeli relations’.

69 Davutoğlu, Ahmet, ‘Zero problems in a new era’, Foreign Policy (2013)Google Scholar, available at: {http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/03/21/zero-problems-in-a-new-era/} accessed 23 November 2015.

70 Tür, ‘Turkey and Israel in the 2000s’, p. 53.

71 Mufti, Malik, ‘A little America: the emergence of Turkish hegemony’, Middle East Brief No 51 (Crown Center for Middle East Studies: Brandeis University, 2011)Google Scholar.

72 Çelikkol, Oğuz, One Minute’dan Mavi Marmara’ya Türkiye –İsrail Çatışması [From One Minute to Mavi Marmara Turkey-Israeli Conflict] (İstanbul: Doğan Kitap, 2014)Google Scholar; Tür, ‘Turkey and Israel in the 2000s’; Tür, Özlem, ‘Turkey-Israel relations after Israel’s apology to Turkey’, Ortadoğu Analiz, 5:54 (2013), pp. 26–34 Google Scholar.

73 Akyol, Mustafa, ‘Did the West write Erdogan off for Israel’s sake?’, Al-Monitor (22 January 2015)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/turkey-west-erdogan-davutoglu-davos.html} accessed 23 November 2015; Akif Beki, ‘Başbakan Davutoğlu: Bizim kitle neden rahatsız olsun ki’, Hürriyet (17 January 2015) available at: {http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/basbakan-davutoglu-bizim-kitle-neden-rahatsiz-olsun-ki-27987324} accessed 23 November 2015.

74 ‘Recep Erdogan storms out of Davos after clash with Israeli president over Gaza’, The Guardian (30 January 2009) available at: {http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/30/turkish-prime-minister-gaza-davos} accessed 23 November 2015.

75 Ibid.

76 News coverage tended to paint Davos’s significance for Turkey and for Erdoğan as positive or negative depending on the political orientation of the newspaper See Engin, Elif and Şener, Gül, ‘Predicting the image of Turkey and the prime minister of Erdoğan through content analysis of national news media coverage of Davos incident’, Selçuk İletisim, 6:3 (2010), pp. 68–75 Google Scholar.

77 Cited in Pelin Turgut, ‘Behind the Turkish prime minister’s outburst at Davos’, Time Magazine (30 January 2009) available at: {http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1875981,00.html} accessed 23 November 2015.

78 Akyol, Mustafa, ‘Is Tayyip Erdoğan the new Nasser?’, Hürriyet (4 February 2009)Google Scholar available at: {http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/is-tayyip-erdogan-the-new-nasser-10929197} accessed 23 November 2015; Daniel Steinvorth, ‘A Turkey-Israel clash at Davos: Erdogan’s feeling for rage’, Spiegel Online (30 January 2009), available at: {http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-turkey-israel-clash-at-davos-erdogan-s-feeling-for-rage-a-604650.html}accessed 29 November 2015.

79 Ravid, Barak, ‘Is this the transcript of Peres’ call to Erdoğan following Davos spat?’, Haaretz (1 January 2009)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.haaretz.com/news/is-this-the-transcript-of-peres-call-to-erdogan-following-davos-spat-1.267121} accessed 23 November 2015.

80 Arbell, Dan, ‘The US-Turkey-Israel triangle’, Analysis Paper 34 (Center for Middle East Policy: Brookings Institute, 2014)Google Scholar.

81 Quoted in Balcı, ‘Turkish Foreign Policy and Israel’, p. 131.

82 Akyol, ‘Did the West write Erdogan off for Israel’s sake’.

83 The IHH, a NGO-registered in Turkey and owned three of the ships, including Mavi Marmara, had announced earlier that in addition to delivering humanitarian aid they also aim to break the Israeli blockade.

84 ‘Disislerinde Saat Saat Kriz Yonetimi’, Hürriyet (2 June 2010), available at: {http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/disislerinde-saat-saat-kriz-yonetimi-14916729} accessed 23 November 2015.

85 ‘Aid ship raid is Israeli state terrorism-Turkish PM’, Reuters (31 May 2010), available at: {http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/05/31/palestinians-israel-turkey-erdogan-idUSLDE64U1UF20100531} accessed 23 November 2015.

86 Recep Erdoğan, T., ‘Speech to the AK Party parliamentary party group meeting’, Ankara (1 June 2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.akparti.org.tr/tbmm/grupkon.asp} accessed 15 August 2015.

87 Letter dated 31 May 2010 from the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, S/2010/266 (31 May 2010) available at: {http://repository.un.org/handle/11176/13962} accessed 23 November 2015).

88 ‘OIC Foreign Ministers Emergency Meeting, Jeddah, 6 June 2010’, OIC Journal, 14 (May–August 2010).

89 ‘Başbakan İsrail konusunda son noktayı koydu: Birey-devlet ayırımı söz konusu değil’, Radikal (7 December 2010), available at: {http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetayV3&ArticleID=1031776&CategoryID=77&Rdkref=1} accessed 23 November 2015.

90 Kershner, Isabel, ‘Israel and Turkey in talks over deadly flotilla raid’, The New York Times (6 May 2013)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/world/middleeast/israel-and-turkey-talk-compensation-in-flotilla-raid.html} accessed 23 November 2015.

91 ‘Turkey’s Erdoğan: Normal relations with Israel unlikely if its aggression on Palestine continues’, Middle East Monitor (13 July 2014), available at: {https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/12749-turkeys-erdogan-normal-relations-with-israel-unlikely-if-its-aggression-on-palestine-continues} accessed 23 November 2015.

92 ‘Bloodshed off Gaza: European countries condemn storming of aid flotilla’, Der Spiegel (1 June 2010), available at: {http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/bloodshed-off-gaza-european-countries-condemn-storming-of-aid-flotilla-a-697739.html} accessed 23 November 2015.

93 Üzer, ‘Turkish-Israeli relations’.

94 Ibid.

95 Max Boot, ‘Israel’s Gaza flotilla fiasco’, The Wall Street Journal (1 June 2010), available at: {http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704366504575278621338138694} accessed 23 November 2015.

96 ‘Israel and the flotilla’, The Chicago Tribune (1 June 2010), available at: {http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-06-01/opinion/ct-edit-g}; ‘The freedom flotilla fraud’, The Washington Times (1 June 2010), available at: {http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/1/the-freedom-flotilla-fraud/} accessed 23 November 2015.

97 ‘ABD: IHH’nin Hamas’la Görüşmesi endişe verici’, Hürriyet (3 June 2010), available at: {http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/abd-ihhnin-hamasla-gorusmesi-endise-verici-14919470} accessed 23 November 2015.

98 Zimmermann, Eric, ‘Reid and McConnell lead letter to Obama defending Israel in flotilla incident’, Briefing Room (2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/105093-87-senators-defend-israel-in-flotilla-incident} accessed 23 November 2015.

99 Blefsky, Dan and Arsu, Sebnem, ‘Sponsor of flotilla tied to elite of Turkey’, The New York Times (15 July 2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/world/middleeast/16turkey.html?_r=0} accessed 23 November 2015; Stephen Schwartz, ‘Erdogan, Qaradawi, Ramadan, Hamas, and Obama’, The Weekly Standard (3 June 2010), available at: {http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/erdogan-qaradawi-ramadan-hamas-obama} accessed 23 November 2015.

100 Kanter, James, ‘Gates criticizes Turkey’s vote against sanctions’, The New York Times (11 June 2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/world/europe/12nato.html} accessed 23 November 2015; Bernhard Zand, ‘The Anatolian Tiger: How the West is losing Turkey’, Der Spiegel (15 June 2010), available at: {http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-anatolian-tiger-how-the-west-is-losing-turkey-a-700626.html} accessed 29 November 2015.

101 Butler, Desmond, ‘United States presses Turkey to improve relations with West’, Associated Press (26 June 2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/06/united_state_presses_turkey_to.html} accessed 23 November 2015.

102 Meiritz, Annett, ‘Erdogan’s “dangerous macho posturing”: EU politicians slam Turkey’s anti-Israel course’, Der Spiegel (14 September 2011)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/erdogan-s-dangerous-macho-posturing-eu-politicians-slam-turkey-s-anti-israel-course-a-786204.html} accessed 23 November 2015.

103 Turkish Parliamentary Meeting 23/109, Ankara (1 June 2010).

104 Tanir, İlhan, ‘Ankara’s Washington misreading’, Hürriyet Daily News (25 June 2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=ankaras-washington-misreading-2010-06-25} accessed 24 May 2016; Birand, Mehmet Ali, ‘It’s a mistake to close all doors for Israel’, Hürriyet Daily News (7 July 2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=it8217s-a-mistake-to-close-all-doors-for-israel-2010-07-07} accessed 23 November 2015; Cengiz Aktar, ‘In the aftermath of the Israeli assault’, Hürriyet Daily News (4 June 2010), available at: {http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=in-the-aftermath-of-the-israeli-assault-2010-06-04} accessed 23 November 2015; Semih İdiz, ‘Much to ponder for Turkey and Israel once the dust settles’, Hürriyet Daily News (7 June 2010), {http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=much-to-ponder-for-turkey-and-israel-once-the-dust-settles-2010-06-07} accessed 23 November 2015.

105 ‘İsrail’e Protesto Çığ Gibi’, Radikal (1 June 2010), available at: {http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/israile_protesto_cigi_gibi-999816} accessed 23 November 2015.

106 The Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), ‘Public Opinion Surveys of Turkish Foreign Policy 2013/2’ (2013), available at: {http://www.edam.org.tr/en/File?id=1149} accessed 23 November 2015.

107 Akyol, Taha, ‘Mehmetçik Gazze’ye!’, Milliyet (2 June 2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.milliyet.com.tr/mehmetcik-gazze-ye-/taha-akyol/siyaset/siyasetyazardetay/02.06.2010/1245486/default.htm} accessed 23 November 2015; Fikret Bila, ‘Erdoğan’ın hedefi İsrail hükümeti’, Milliyet (2 June 2010), available at: {http://www.milliyet.com.tr/erdogan-in-hedefi-israil-hukumeti/fikret-bila/siyaset/yazardetayarsiv/25.02.2009/1245483/default.htm} accessed 23 November 2015; Cengiz Candar, ‘İsrail’in yakasına yapışmak’, Hürriyet (1 June 2010), available at: {http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/israil-in-yakasina-yapismak-14909068} accessed 23 November 2015.

108 Emre Aköz ‘Türkiye büyüdükçe saldırılar sürecek’, Sabah (2 June 2010), available at: {http://www.sabah.com.tr/yazarlar/akoz/2010/06/02/turkiye_buyudukce_saldirilar_surecek} accessed 23 November 2015.

109 Ilgıt, Aslı and Ozkececiler-Taner, Binnur, ‘Turkey at the United Nations Security Council: “Rhythmic diplomacy” and a quest for global influence’, Mediterranean Politics, 19:2 (2014), pp. 183–202 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

110 Crooke, Alastair, ‘After the Israeli flotilla incident, Turkey is the new Palestinian champion’, Ikhvanweb (12 June 2010)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=25230} accessed 23 November 2015.

111 ‘Erdogan slams Israel on start of Arab tour’, Al Jazeera (14 September 2011), available at: {http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/09/2011912221636537643.html} accessed 23 November 2015.

112 ‘Davos’ta büyük gerginlik’, Ntvmsnbc (30 January 2009), available at: {http://arsiv.ntv.com.tr/news/473840.asp} accessed 23 November 2015.

113 Available at: {http://www.turkishweekly.net/print.asp?type=1&id=62914} accessed 23 November 2015.

114 ‘Erdoğan’dan önemli açıklamalar’, Sabah (3 June 2010), available at: {http://www.sabah.com.tr/gundem/2010/06/03/erdogandan_onemli_aciklamalar} accessed 23 November 2015.

115 Aydıntaşbaş, ‘Erdogan’s Davos outburst is nothing new’; Turgut, ‘Behind the Turkish prime minister’s outburst at Davos’.

116 Turgut, ‘Behind the Turkish prime minister’s outburst at Davos’.

117 Türk, Muktedir (Authority).

118 Ibid., p. 359.

119 Aydıntaşbaş, ‘Erdogan’s Davos outburst is nothing new’.

120 Ibid.

121 Ibid.

122 Steinvorth, ‘A Turkey-Israel clash at Davos’.

123 Erdoğan, ‘Speech to the AK Party parliamentary group meeting’.

124 ‘History will be Israel’s judge, Erdoğan says’, Today’s Zaman (7 January 2009), available at: {http://www.todayszaman.com/national_history-will-be-israels-judge-erdogan-says_163428.html} accessed 23 November 2015.

125 Ozcan, Gencer, ‘The hall of mirrors: Reflections, illusions and realities in Turkish Israeli relations’, Ortadogu Analiz, 2:18 (2010), pp. 36–44 Google Scholar.

126 Ibid.

127 Walt, Stephen, ‘The real significance of Erdogan’s Davos outburst’, Foreign Policy (2 February 2009)Google Scholar; Arbell, ‘The US-Turkey-Israel triangle’.

128 Turgut, ‘Behind the Turkish prime minister’s outburst at Davos’.

129 Arbell, ‘The US-Turkey-Israel triangle’, p. 25.

130 Ibid., p. 27.

131 Meiritz, ‘Erdogan’s “dangerous macho posturing”’.

132 Recep Erdoğan, T., ‘Speech at the Ambassadors’ Dinner Party’ (15 July 2014)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.akparti.org.tr/site/haberler/basbakan-erdoganin-geleneksel-buyukelciler-iftari-konusmasi/65233#1} accessed 27 April 2016.

133 Munyar, Vahap and Özer, Verda, ‘Erdoğan “saddened” over Obama’s press freedom rebuke’, Hürriyet Daily News (3 April 2016)Google Scholar, available at: {http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogan-saddened-over-obamas-press-freedom-rebuke.aspx?PageID=238&NID=97234&NewsCatID=510} accessed 7 May 2016.

134 We thank Lerna Yanık for her suggestion on this point.

135 Subotic and Zarakol, ‘Cultural intimacy in International Relations’, p. 916.

136 Zarakol, ‘Ontological (in)security’.

137 Subotic and Zarakol, ‘Cultural intimacy in International Relations’, p. 915.