Third Way and Its Reflections on Turkish Politics

The political atmosphere of the late 1990s is shaped§by the pursuit of a new basis for social solidarity§to be consistent with the market. With its main idea§on the complementarity of state, market and civil§society and its model of citizen both as a market§actor and a responsible member of communities; the§Third Way has achieved to be the response to that§pursuit. Whether the term third way is used or not,§its main principles have gained hegemonic position on§the world scale. In this sense, the Third Way has not§only become the main model for the social democratic§parties to adopt a more market-friendly attitude and§to gain political power in the second phase of§neo-liberal period, but also played an essential role§in further penetration of market relations into the§social life. Its impact on Turkish politics can be§observed in the attempts of political parties to§acquire this hegemonic discourse in 2000s. The JDP§has been more convincing in its attempt, as a result§of its market oriented and community based structure,§which indicates that in Turkish context this§hegemonic discourse gained a more conservatist§manner, if it doesn't show the immanent conservatism§of the Third Way.