The Conspiratorial Style in Turkish Politics

The “deep state” conspiracy theory is evergreen in Turkish politics. Why is it so popular, and why do political elites continually turn to different forms of this conspiracy theory? This chapter focuses on an amorphous but significant conspiracy theory, the deep state, which argues that a clandestine elite group is determined to defend the Turkish state ideology and the political stability by legal, and often illegal, means. While all political parties in the Turkish parliament talk about the existence of the deep state, they do not agree on who it is, largely because of their contradictory partisan interests. This creates incompatible definitions of the deep state, which cannot convince all parties. In short, partisan conflict ensures the continuity of the deep state conspiracy theory.