Karyomorphological studies in seven taxa of the genus Salvia (Lamiaceae) in Turkey

In this study, the karyotypes of mitotic chromosomes were determined of seven taxa of Salvia (Lamiaceae) collected from their natural habitats in Turkey: S. viridis (2n = 16), S. candidissima subsp. occidentalis (2n = 20), S. sclarea, S. ceratophylla, S. chionantha (2n = 22), S. viscosa and S. verticillata subsp. amasiaca (2n = 32). The karyotype formulae were 5m+3sm in S. viridis, 2M+5m+3sm in S. candidissima subsp. occidentalis, 1M+10m in S. sclarea, 8m+3sm in S. ceratophylla, 7m+4sm in S. chionantha, 9m+5sm+2st in S. viscosa, and 15m+1sm in S. verticillata subsp. amasiaca by the karyotype image analysis system. Somatic chromosome numbers ranged from 2n = 16 to 2n = 32. The ideograms were drawn based on centromeric index and arranged in decreasing size order. The present results were compared with the previous cytological studies in the genus

A Midsummer Night's Coup: Performance and power in Turkey's July 15 Coup attempt

Occurring at a time when military interventions appeared to be a matter of the past, the coup attempt of July 15, 2016 left a major mark on Turkish society and politics. This article approaches the July 15 coup attempt as a contingent and transformative event and investigates how symbolic processes helped determine its immediate outcome as well as its cultural, social, and political consequences. Linking the sociological literature on events with social performance theory, the study argues that the putschists' ineffectiveness in projecting legitimacy and power in the critical hours of the coup attempt significantly contributed to its failure. The retrospective construction of an authoritative "Narrative of July 15" in the following weeks, on the other hand, enabled the government to implement specific institutional changes in the cultural, economic, and political domains. The study proposes a two-step analysis for the cultural construction of political events and suggests that social performance theory provides useful analytical tools for tracing the course and explaining the outcome of this process

The political incorporation of anti-system religious parties: the case of Turkish political Islam (1994–2011)

When and how do anti-system religious parties become incorporated into the political system of their countries? In recent decades, social scientists have sought answers to this question within the framework of the moderation literature. While moderation theory identifies key factors that influence party leaders’ willingness to seek political incorporation, it is less successful in explaining the contingent outcome of the incorporation process. This article develops an alternative analytical framework for the study of political incorporation grounded in social performance theory. Through a case study of Islamic parties in Turkey between 1994 and 2011, the author demonstrates that political incorporation is as much a function of successful cultural performances on the public stage as the right alignment of institutional incentives and sanctions. As a result of the Justice and Development Party leaders’ successful projection of a mainstream political identity between 2002 and 2011, secularist state elites in Turkey failed to establish legitimate grounds for a political intervention, which in turn provided the party with the time and opportunity to remove the institutional barriers to its incorporation