Abstract
Neoliberalism was introduced to Turkey alongside the 1980 military coup. But it is often discussed with reference to the 2000s, especially as a project of the AKP government. There are three reasons for it. First, neoliberalism has been transnationally consolidated as a hegemonic mode of capitalism over the last 10 to 15 years. Second, when the 1980 military coup happened under the leadership of General Kenan Evren, the military framed the intervention as a requirement for bringing about stability and security. In the name of stability, the military also crippled the trade unions, favoring right-wing nationalist ones over the unions on the left, and brought the 10% parliamentary threshold to the electoral system. Third, With the advent of the AKP governments, we see the victory, based on the 10% parliamentary threshold, of a strong majority for four consecutive general elections, and we see that such “stability” has brought with it tremendous power that has enabled the implementation of the neoliberal logic across a number of fields, including the health care system, and the distribution of environmental resources and property.
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Iğsız, A., interviewed by Elif Sarı (2019). Branding as a Neoliberal Project. In: Özyürek, E., Özpınar, G., Altındiş, E. (eds) Authoritarianism and Resistance in Turkey. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76705-5_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76705-5_6
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