Speaking apart: Rhetorical polarization in Turkey’s parliament, 2011–2023
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2026
Yazarlar: Betül AYDOĞAN ÜNAL
Mediterranean Politics, SSCI İndekslerine Giren Dergi, Uluslararası, Wos, 2026, cilt 1, ss 1-26
DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2026.2626263
Özet
While Turkey is widely recognized for its deep polarization, less is known about how this dynamic unfolds in parliamentary discourse. This study provides the first longitudinal analysis of rhetorical polarization in the Turkish Grand National Assembly from 2011 to 2023, a period of democratic backsliding. We measure rhetorical polarization through a supervised machine learning approach with a confidence-weighted classifier metric. Analysing 487,862 parliamentary speech paragraphs (33.2 million words), we trace inter-party rhetorical distance over time and across dyads. Rhetorical polarization intensified especially following critical junctures such as the Gezi Park protests, the collapse of the Kurdish peace process, and the transition to a presidential system. Polarization dynamics overlap with political alliances: the governing de facto AKP – MHP coalition achieved significant rhetorical convergence, while main opposition parties remained fragmented despite forming a pre-electoral coalition. The junior coalition partner MHP, not the ruling AKP, emerged as the most polarizing actor. The AKP – CHP relationship closely tracked system-wide trends, acting as a bellwether for parliamentary discourse. Our findings underscore how coalition dynamics, rather than ideology alone, drive polarization in multi-party systems, contributing to broader debates on discourse, polarization, and opposition coordination in competitive authoritarian regimes across the Mediterranean and beyond.