Erdoğan’s Electoral Success: Geopolitics, Social Class and New Nationalism

This study investigates the re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 general and presidential elections within the context of multidimensional crises, including economic, geopolitical, and social challenges. The research identifies three core areas that were key to Erdoğan’s electoral success. First, the government addressed economic issues such as welfare erosion, employment loss, and the lack of class mobility through the implementation of a novel class policy. Secondly, Erdoğan capitalized on rising nationalism driven by the influx of immigrants and therefore succeeded in establishing a new hegemonic space through a national identity narrative which he subsequently centered his political discourse on. Lastly, despite confrontations stemming from Türkiye’s active and revisionist foreign policy orientation during the 2010s, Erdoğan managed to navigate the geopolitical crises beginning in 2020 with a fresh alliance strategy. This study outlines the essential mechanisms by which Erdoğan succeeded in maintaining political power amidst complex crises.