Turkey, a Nation Stuck in Politicized, Primordial Worldviews

Source:Center for American Progress Date:22Feb2018

Fascinating and almost beyond belief! Turks view the world through a prism of ethnic identity and religion that defies economic interest, ideology and class struggle. What are we?

In Turkey today, CAP’s nationwide polling shows, citizens’ political views largely define their understanding of reality and the world around them, rather than vice versa. The parameters of many Turks’ worldviews are shaped by membership in political identity groups familiar to observers of Turkish politics, such as “religious conservative” or “Kemalist.” Membership in these political identity groups is not interest-based or functional. Instead, it is attributed to supposedly old or inherent identity characteristics.