THE REVOLUTION OF DIGNITY AS SEEN BY TURKISH MEDIA

Abstract

Euromaidan, also known as the Revolution of Dignity, is undoubtedly an epoch-making event in the history of independent Ukraine. The mass protests, which began in Kyiv as a response to the government’s sudden decision to abandon the planned signing of landmark agreements with the EU and a short time later spread far beyond the capital of Ukraine, could not but capture the global community’s attention. Numerous media outlets widely covered those historic events. Turkey, whose political life has always been full of contradictions, did not stand aside either. The paper provides a comprehensive picture of how different Turkish newspapers portrayed the Euromaidan events and what they put special emphasis on. The following aspects have come to the fore: a) what caused mass protests in Kyiv’s Independence Square (both immediate and remote causes were being explained); b) who were Euromaidan participants, how they looked and behaved, how they described their political views and explained their own motives for participation in anti-government protests; c) what was the character of protests and how it changed over time; d) what forces contributed to the continuation of protests; e) the outcomes of the Revolution of Dignity; f) predictions about what “a post-Maidan Ukraine” will look like in the near future. In total, about 20 newspaper articles from various sources (“Cumhuriyet” – “The Republic”, “Milliyet” – “The Nation”, “Avrasya Haber” – “Eurasian News”, “Özgür Gündem” – “The Free Agenda”, etc.) have been analysed. The findings were initially presented at an international conference “The Maidan Phenomenon in Ukrainian Society: Sociological Interpretations” held in memory of an eminent Ukrainian sociologist Natalia Panina (Kyiv, Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 10 December 2014).