Dimensions of polarization in Turkey

"We are living in separate worlds where party affiliation and social identities overlap. Our identities have become so politicized that differences in political perspectives have turned into social distance, causing a psychological distance as well, among members of society," says Özgür Ünlühisarc?kl?, director of the German Marshall Fund's (GMF) office in Ankara, referring to the major findings of the "Dimensions of Polarization in Turkey," a study recently conducted by the Corporate Social Responsibility Association and Infakto RW; sponsored by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a GMF undertaking.

Professor Emre Erdo?an of Bilgi University says they weren't expecting to see such a huge social distance among individuals holding different political views.

Erdo?an suggests that the most common indicator of social distance is neighborhood. Neighborhoods are important because they literally require the elimination of social distance among different identities who cheek by jowl. 

"We usually ask people if they would like to have a neighbor with a particular political affiliation, but in this research, we went a step further. First, we asked our respondents to specify the most politically distant party to them. Then, we asked them whether they would like to have their daughters marry a person affiliated to that party, enter a business transaction, or even let their kids be friends with them." 

The results point at a high level of political partisanship in Turkish society that has become deeper and more extensive, damaging social bonds. 

According to the study, 83.4 percent do not want their daughters to marry a member of the most distant party constituency. Some 78.4 percent do not want to do business with a member...