Talk Description:
Since the early 2000s, President Erdoğan has challenged the secular, Republican conception of Turkish identity—long criticized for marginalizing minorities such as the Kurds. His alternative vision, grounded in Muslim nationalism and infused with Ottoman nostalgia, has nevertheless failed to deliver inclusive citizenship. Instead, Erdoğan’s notion of a “native and national” identity has become a key ideological tool for entrenching his autocratic rule. The secular opposition, however, has likewise struggled to articulate a vision of national belonging that is genuinely inclusive.
Speaker Bio:
Serhun AL is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Izmir University of Economics, Turkey, and was a visiting scholar at The Ohio State University in 2022–2023. His research examines nationalism, ethnic conflict, and security studies. His scholarly works have been published in journals such as Ethnopolitics, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, Nationalities Papers, Globalizations, and Turkish Studies. He has also written op-eds for Time Magazine, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and other global media outlets. He is the author of Patterns of Nationhood and Saving the State in Turkey (2019) and co-editor of Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East (2018).
