Religion, Identity and Power

Examines the role of religion and state identity transformation in Erdogan’s Turkey and its reflections to the Balkan Peninsula

• Discusses the effects of Turkey's authoritarian turn during the AKP rule in the domain of foreign policy
• Examines the role of religion, ethnicity, state identity and power in the relations between Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula
• Presents the results of more than 120 semi-structured interviews with political actors, diplomats, religious leaders, scholars, journalists and religious community representatives in Turkey and the Balkans
• Provides an example of a hybrid insider/outsider status when conducting ethnographical fieldwork among religious groups
• Watch a webinar from The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs (Georgetown University) where Ahmet Erdi Öztürk discusses the book with Nukhet Sandal
• Watch Ahmet Erdi Öztürk talk about his book with Prof. Scott Lucas on DeepDivePolitics
• Read an interview with Ahmet Erdi Öztürk about this book at The Adriatic Report
• Watch Ahmet Erdi Öztürk discuss this book on the Centre for Southeast European Studies Youtube

Turkey and its recent ethno-religious transformation have had a strong impact on the state identity and country’s relation to the Balkan Peninsula. This book examines Turkey’s ethno-religious activism and power-related political strategies in the Balkans between 2002 and 2020, the period under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), to determine the scopes of its activities in the region.

Ahmet Erdi Öztürk illuminates an often-neglected aspect of Turkey’s relations with its Balkan neighbours that emerged as a result of the much discussed ‘authoritarian turn’ – a broader shift in Turkish domestic and foreign policy from a realist-secular to a Sunni Islamic orientation with ethno-nationalist policies.

In order to understand how these concepts have been received locally, Öztürk draws on personal testimonies given by both Turkish and non-Turkish, Muslim and non-Muslim interviewees in three country cases: Republic of Bulgaria, Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Albania. The findings shed light on contemporary issues surrounding the continuous redefinition of Turkish secularism under the AKP rule and the emergence of a new Muslim elite in Turkey.