The Rhetoric of Fear in Turkish Politics: Instrumentalising Hate Speech in Electoral Campaigns

This paper investigates how populist political discourse in Turkey has normalized hate speech as a strategic tool in election campaigns. It examines the instrumentalization of hate speech as a political promise and its role in narrowing the democratic space for various societal segments during the 2023 presidential and parliamentary general elections, held in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Republic's founding. The paper employs critical discourse analysis to examine the election speeches, media broadcasts, and social media posts of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the candidate of the ruling party and its allies, who has governed Turkey since 2002. It also analyzes the corresponding outputs of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition party and the joint candidate of a six-party alliance formed prior to the elections. A central element of Erdogan’s political discourse is the rhetoric of fear. Since 2013, as the authoritarian tone of Erdoğan's regime intensified, he has effectively convinced significant segments of the electorate—via campaign strategies and media narratives—that Turkey faces existential threats from both internal and external forces, with terrorism portrayed as a central menace. Following the failed coup attempt in 2016, Erdogan’s rhetoric of fear increasingly targeted diverse segments of the social opposition, branding them as threats to the nation. This included Kurds (associated with terrorism), members of the sect accused of orchestrating the coup attempt, opposition politicians, mayors, human rights defenders, academics, journalists, women, and students. Consequently, legitimate political discourse was progressively curtailed, and dissent was systematically criminalized. In the 2023 elections, Erdogan and his allies expanded this rhetoric of fear, framing their campaign around polarizing themes related to lifestyles. Faced with waning electoral support due to economic decline, Erdogan centered his campaign on the claim that his re-election was critical not only for the nation's survival but also to protect the traditional family and religious lifestyles of his electorate. He positioned anti-LGBT rhetoric at the core of his campaign, asserting that the LGBT community posed a direct threat to these values. In contrast, Kilicdaroğlu initially adopted an anti-polarization discourse in the early stages of his campaign. However, after losing the first round of the presidential race, he shifted to anti-refugee rhetoric in the subsequent phase. This shift marked a departure from his earlier inclusive messaging and underscored the growing reliance on divisive rhetoric across the political spectrum. As noted in the OSCE observation report, this election represented a significant milestone in Turkish politics, as hate speech became a prominent and normalized feature of election campaigns for the first time.