Spanning from seventeenth-century Ottoman state-society relations to contemporary Turkish politics, Mehtap Söyler’s book on the Turkish deep state is a very timely contribution to the omnipresent but not so substantive conversation on the topic. It is also an ambitious study of the historical development of the deep state in Turkey. Despite having become particularly salient with the high-profile court cases against various state actors in the 2000s, the notion of the “deep state” entered mainstream Turkish political life as a result of a car crash that took place in 1996. Known as the Susurluk scandal, this event unearthed the Turkish state’s ties with extrajudicial actors and activities when an ultranationalist militant, a former police deputy chief, and a member of parliament were found in the same vehicle as a result of this accident. Often referred to as a state within a state, the notion of the deep state has come to stand for a coalition of actors that have a say in the formal workings of the state as a kind of shadow organization. Generally operating in a surreptitious manner, the structures of the deep state supposedly work to further the state’s interests as they deem fit, usually through antidemocratic and extrajudicial ways. The deep state is a difficult concept to define, and—perhaps precisely because of its nebulous structure—scholarly studies of it are surprisingly sparse despite the notion’s pervading impact on Turkey’s social, political, and everyday life. Furthermore, those studies that do exist analyze primarily the manifestations of the deep state in certain historical moments, rather than trying to grasp the trajectory of this complex phenomenon. Söyler’s book is a much welcome exception to these existing studies.

Coming from a background in political science, Söyler situates the topic of the deep state within the methodological and theoretical frameworks of that discipline. Her reasoning for employing the methods of conventional political science is threefold. First, her work speaks against the parapolitics literature that interprets any extralegal activity by the state as sufficient evidence for the existence of a deep state, an approach that ultimately impedes a systematic analysis of the burgeoning and functioning of deep state structures within distinct realms. Second, Söyler is in favor of nuancing the workings of the deep state in different types of political regimes ranging from democracy to autocracy, focusing specifically on how the components of the deep state manifest themselves “in the polities that are in the gray zone between authoritarian regimes and liberal democracies” (p. 5), with Turkey constituting her primary case study. Third, her work goes against the argument that deep politics is an indispensable component of any state, as this approach obviates a thorough study of the growth, development, and potential decline of deep state structures. Instead, Söyler suggests that it is possible to track the trajectory of these structures and examine when the deep state is weaker or stronger in particular historical moments by analyzing certain critical junctures in politics.

Söyler’s overall argument is that the presence of the deep state within a particular state structure can be measured through certain quantifiable criteria. Specifically, the power of the military and of the executive branch in tutelary and delegative democracies, respectively, attests to the presence of a deep state structure. However, Söyler cautions that the dissolution of the deep state cannot be achieved merely through the attainment of certain benchmarks: ultimately, the political elite and the general public are equally responsible for deciding on the future of the state (p. 207).

Divided into five chapters, the book examines the deep state through an analysis that prioritizes a path-dependent approach, focusing on both the formal and informal institutions that contribute to the formation of the deep state, as well as on the critical junctures that lead to institutional change. Chapters 1 and 2 outline the methodological and theoretical approach of the book, respectively. While both chapters are extensive in their scope, they would appeal more to a readership already familiar with the political science literature than to an interdisciplinary audience. The following three chapters turn to a thorough discussion of the crucial moments pertaining to the development of deep state structures in late Ottoman and Turkish republican history. Chapter 3 examines the history of state-society relations in the late Ottoman Empire, from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Here, Söyler particularly focuses on the continuous presence of banditry in state affairs and its essential role in “war-making, state-making, and capital accumulation” (p. 80) as part of concerted efforts to save the Ottoman Empire. She analyzes the development of state-bandit relations, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the influence of the Young Ottoman and Young Turk ideologies on the dissolving empire, and the crucial role of bandits in the Turkish War of Independence—all of which, she argues, contributed to the development of deep state structures. Chapter 4 moves on to the republican period, covering a time frame from 1923 to the 1980 coup. Here, Söyler begins by analyzing the authoritarian single-party rule that extended from 1923 to 1947, examining in particular the ideological pillars of the state: secularism and nationalism. She argues that these pillars created a perpetual insecurity within the state structure, which resulted in precautionary measures meant to keep the ideal of the nation in check, mostly through military interventions. The chapter also emphasizes the significance of international actors (especially the United States of America) in the 1950s for the formation of deep state structures in Turkey. Expanding the discussion of banditry presented in the previous chapter, Söyler demonstrates how in the 1960s and 1970s the Turkish state used ultranationalist militants to expand its governmental authority, just as the Ottoman state had incorporated bandits into the state structure in order to exert control over its population. Chapter 5 traces the development of the deep state, starting from the 1980 coup and ending with a survey of the political developments of the 2000s. Here, Söyler focuses on the 1990s, when—especially in the context of the Kurdish conflict—the deep state became the state, as “modern bandits” deepened their relationship with the state through their entanglement in organized crime and their mutual political and economic interests with the state (p. 132). The chapter ends with a discussion of the impact that the rule of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) has had on the resurgence of the deep state in the 2010s as it replaced military power with a civilian rule lacking democratic oversight.

Söyler posits that, in the Turkish context, the deep state has been an integral part of the country’s nation-building project. It has been formed of a complex web of actors and relations with a fluctuating presence in politics in particular historical moments. Analyzing state-society relations in Turkey as a continuum of those extant in its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, Söyler demonstrates how the state’s perpetual entanglement with extrajudicial actors—mainly bandits and criminals—in efforts to fulfill its own interests has led to the continual presence of the deep state within the overall state structure. Ultimately, by tracing the layers of the deep state, Söyler’s study aims not only to argue for a complex approach to the systematic study of this phenomenon, but also to demonstrate the comparative value of the Turkish case for other research contexts. Indeed, the major strength of the book lies in elucidating the vital role that economic ties and interests hold in the formation and sustenance of deep state structures. Nevertheless, the detailed account of the Turkish context would have benefitted greatly from a more thorough analysis of comparative examples, especially in the contemporary moment, so as to better substantiate the book’s claim about the value of the Turkish case for similar contexts occupying a place between authoritarian regimes and liberal democracies.

In spite of its comprehensive study of the subject matter, Söyler’s book might not fully satisfy readers seeking a more symbolic approach to the study of the deep state, one, that is, which discusses such notions as secrets, conspiracies, and fantasies of the state. However, one of Söyler’s major goals in this book is precisely to demystify the idea of the state as an intangible formation that one cannot quite locate, understand, or analyze. Söyler’s choice of methodological and theoretical framework, therefore, is by no means a shortcoming of the study itself, but rather a manifestation of the different disciplinary approaches to the study of the state. Overall, she ties together what might initially appear to be a series of unrelated historical moments into a meaningful sequence. In terms of making better sense of the state and its multiple trajectories, The Turkish Deep State offers new avenues to pursue for scholars of Turkey as well as for social scientific studies of the state, military, and democracy alike.