Constructing Turkish 'exceptionalism' Discourses of liminality and hybridity in post-Cold War Turkish foreign policy

摘要

This article examines the discursive practices that enable the construction of Turkish " exceptionalism." It argues that in an attempt to play the mediator/peacemaker role as an emerging power, the Turkish elite construct an " exceptionalist" identity that portrays Turkey in a liminal state. This liminality and thus the " exceptionalist" identity it creates, is rooted in the hybridization of Turkey's geographical and historical characteristics. The Turkish foreign policy elite make every effort to underscore Turkey's geography as a meeting place of different continents. Historically, there has also been an ongoing campaign to depict Turkey's past as " multicultural" and multi-civilizational. These constructions of identity however, run counter to the Kemalist nation-building project, which is based on " purity" in contrast to " hybridity" both in terms of historiography and practice. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.