AKP’s ideological orientation possesses definitive features of nationalism: it envisions “nation” as a homogenous political entity with the members sharing some common characteristics; it presumes that the members of this nation share a common past; and it assumes a set of common national interests that concerns and cuts across every member of the nation. However, AKP also represents, in some respects, a historically specific form of nationalism in Turkish political history, as it formulates and constructs the conceptions of “nation”, “national history” and “national interests” in a distinctive manner. In this respect AKP can also be seen as a party that forges an ideological struggle aiming to dispossess the notion of nation from Kemalist nationalism and define it in a different way that suits to its own political project.
P.S: The seminar will be held in English.
