How to Conceptualize a Culture of Support Through “Language Plus” Presented at the Right Time to the Right Audience

Abstract

This study examines how Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has conceptualized a culture of support and authority, deploying “language plus” in the cultural domains of his pious and nationalistic audience, and inculcated an indisputable moral obligation to support him. The article puts forward a claim that, despite the unstable political and social situation in Turkey, Erdoğan has created a commonsense consensus to build an image of a powerful leader. He received indispensable moral support from the electorate and increased his votes by 10% in the months around the November 2015 parliamentary election. The sociocognitive aspect of Erdoğan’s contextually recurrent public speeches is examined by critical discourse analysis against the backdrop of crises in the country.