The University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies, School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, and Arizona Center for Turkish Studies
Building on Max Weber’s sociological theory, this study proposes that value-laden and instrumentally rational predispositions can explain beliefs in conspiracy theories in Turkey. It argues that changing political contexts influencing people’s values and partisan preferences lead to fluctuations between left- and right-wing tendencies in conspiracy theorizing. The presentation discusses two studies. The first explores the significance of the Turkish government’s conspiracy theories about the Gezi Park Protests in a popular forum website, Eksisozluk.
