 Chosen One Versus Harbinger: Decoding the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election Through Campaign Advertisement FilmsEda Evlioğlu Gezer and Serdar Gezer Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 2025, vol. 12, issue 4, 484-502 Abstract: In comparison to the ideal democratic paradigm, wherein leaders attain legitimacy through popular mandate, political figures in the Middle East frequently invoke divine authority, even within ostensibly democratic structures. This prevailing narrative, which has been pervasive over the last two decades, particularly exemplifies the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan administration in Türkiye. Erdoğan’s depiction as the chosen one has significantly contributed to his triumph in the 2023 presidential elections. Political campaign advertisement films have emerged as a critical tool in shaping and reinforcing the perception that he is a divinely chosen leader. This study examines six advertisement films aired by Erdoğan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the presidential candidate of the opposition coalition, during the 2023 Turkish presidential elections. In those films, Erdoğan is portrayed as a traditional leader and as the divinely chosen leader, while Kılıçdaroğlu is depicted as a legal/rational leader and as the harbinger of spring. Keywords: 2023 Turkish presidential election; chosen one; Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; visual rhetoric (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:crmide:v:12:y:2025:i:4:p:484-502 DOI: 10.1177/23477989251369950 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Contemporary Review of the Middle East |
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