Nationalism in Political Advertisements: the 2018 Presidential Election Advertisements of the Nationalist Movement Party and Justice and Development Party

Abstract

Political advertisements aim to create a positive impact on the voting public. It is known that political advertising activities are in connection with cultural elements such as values, language, myths, nation and belief. Cultural phenomena are social phenomena that include the language, religion, beliefs, myths and values of a society. The phenomenon of nationalism is one of the most used themes in political election campaigns. The fact that political leaders act in line with the importance that the people attach to national values and beliefs shows that they aim to attract the electorate to their party. Party leaders work together with agencies during election periods to carry out advertising activities that will touch the emotional bonds of the people. The study aims to reveal the elements within which the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) used the theme of nationalism in their election advertisements and to determine which nationalist indicators and values were generally included. In the study indicators, it is seen that MHP emphasizes the flag, nation nationalism and the indicators of independence gained in the post-Republic period, while the AK Party emphasizes the rebirth and political and technological power of the Turkish nation by emphasizing the Ottoman period. In the study, the concepts of nationalism and political advertising were touched upon and the advertisements published by AK Party and MHP during the 24 June 2018 Presidential election were analyzed. In the study, semiotic analysis method was used to examine the nationalism indicators on the advertisement.