Claiming Responsibility, Narrating Solidarity: Discursive Legitimation of Turkey's Involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict (1988–2020)

ABSTRACT

Discussions on legitimacy and driving motivations behind international involvements have long been a focal point in academia. Although it is possible to legitimise an involvement by providing different justifications including “humanitarian responsibility” or “protection of security”, there is no clear consensus on the meanings and contexts of these terms since they are shaped by different ideological approaches, identities, and interests. This ambiguity highlights the need to deeply analyse discourses of political actors—the primary agents of involvements—who define and legitimise these actions through narratives and rhetoric. To render this discussion more operational, this academic study focuses on Turkey’s involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Initial erupting as a hot conflict in the last quarter of 20th century, the case of Nagorno-Karabakh evolved into a regional problem that concerns not only Azerbaijan and Armenia but also the states that identify themselves as regional powers. While shifting political dynamics at regional and global levels has transformed Turkish foreign policy and has consequently affected Turkey’s political stance, Turkish political narratives used to restructure foreign policy activities in the Caucasus raises questions about how this discourse shapes the normative frameworks and perceptions surrounding Turkey’s inclusion in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Unlike the mainstream theories and traditional analyses which tend to bring geopolitical or strategic explanations regarding involvements, this master thesis aims to address how political actors create discursive frames that construct the legitimacy of interventionist practices and how these frames affect the international perceptions and norms. By centralising the aforementioned case study, this research seeks to answer the following questions: How was Turkey’s involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict constructed through political discourse? How has this construction influenced national and international perceptions regarding the legitimacy of Turkey's involvement, as well as the normative framing of international involvements? Inspiring from constructivist theories and employing methodological tools such as discourse analysis and media framing within a qualitative framework, this analysis contributes to the understanding of how political discourse constructs legitimacy and influences evolving norms of international involvement.

Key words: Discourse, legitimacy, international intervention, constructivism, Turkey, Nagorno-Karabakh.