Foreign Policy as Performance: Contesting Europe in Turkey’s 2017 Referendum

Abstract

In what ways do contestatory foreign policy practices contribute to regime consolidation under populist rule? Using Turkey’s 2017 constitutional referendum as a case study, this article examines how elites from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deployed a contestatory framing strategy to politicise relations with Europe during a period of heightened domestic competition. By analysing elite discourse across public rallies, official statements, opinion columns, and state-aligned media, the study reveals how European restrictions on diaspora campaigning were framed as threats to Turkish sovereignty and national interests. Through a set of interlocking contestatory frames centred on hypocrisy, civilisational threat, and resentment, Europe was constructed as an antagonistic external actor seeking to obstruct Turkey’s political transformation. This framing enabled the securitisation of opposition to constitutional reform, recasting political dissent as alignment with foreign interference rather than as legitimate democratic disagreement. The article contributes to debates on populist foreign policy and contestation in international politics by showing how persistent contestation towards external actors functions as a performative strategy, shaping political meaning and marginalising opposition. At the same time, it demonstrates the limits of foreign policy performance as a standalone mechanism of regime consolidation.

Keywords

• Contestatory framing
• populist foreign policy
• contestation
• foreign policy
• AKP
• Turkey

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