Turkey’s Conspiracy Entrepreneurs

It’s been a tense summer in Turkey this year. In June, the world’s eyes were on Istanbul’s Taksim Square, watching the protests sparked by anger toward the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Rumors that a new shopping mall would be constructed on the few remaining centrally located parks in Turkey’s biggest city set in motion an unforeseeable chain of events.

The polarization in the aftermath of the protests is even more disturbing for the country’s well-being. Part of this hullabaloo has been a series of government-created conspiracy theories that seek to explain the Gezi Park turmoil. Acronyms like the CIA, CNN and BBC are heavily tossed around, as are theories of the “bad guys” represented by entities like Lufthansa, Twitter and the “interest rate lobby.” Each supposedly has a specific strategy to harm Turkey and stir unrest against the government that was executed through the Gezi protests.

But why has the government resorted to conspiracy theories rather than giving an ear to the protesters?

Many Turkish journalists have asked the same question. Suat Kiniklioglu wrote in Today's Zaman that the Gezi events reflect the government’s incapacity to “come to grips with the widespread middle-class phenomenon and associated criticism over the handling of the protests.” Kiniklioglu condemned the government’s choice to re-awaken paranoia and xenophobia “instead of confronting the facts emanating from the Gezi Park protests and deal with them in a responsible manner.”