ABSTRACT
The “deep state”, both as a reality and as a discourse, was an original contribution by Turkey to the global conspiracy theory community and political intrigue aficionados. The phrase “deep state” entered into circulation following the notorious accident amid these appalling exposures. Inspired by Ugur Mumcu mastery of the art, in the 1990s, “deep state revelations” became an intriguing genre fashionable among mostly leftist journalists – some mediocre and posing and others seasoned, courageous and breathtaking. The “deep state” hence served also as a discourse, functioning as a ploy amid the power struggles in which many “deep state exposers” were inadvertently manipulated and instrumentalized. The deep state operatives in the series displayed role models for those wannabe ruffians feigning as swashbucklers seeking to associate themselves with the state and amalgamating their machismo with self-styled patriotism. The left’s and liberals’ whole-hearted espousal of the “deep state trials” displayed an idiosyncratic type of conspiratorialism: liberal conspiratorialism.
