Social Media, Digital Diplomacy and Diplomatic Crisis: The Case of Yisrael Katz’s X Shares

Authors : Ahmet Çetinkaya, Ceren Yegen, Ali Murat Kırık

Pages : 190-213

Doi:10.17829/turcom.1601392

View : 172 | Download : 144

Publication Date : 2025-06-23

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In today’s world, where digital diplomacy is gaining momentum via social media, the social media (X) posts of Yisrael Katz -the Israeli Foreign Minister of the time- targeting the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attracted attention in 2024. While the relevant posts mediated a “digital” and diplomatic crisis, they also received reactions at various levels in domestic politics in Türkiye. Therefore, in this study, Katz’s visually supported tweets on Erdoğan via X were considered as “narratives” and subjected to semiotic analysis based on the “5 codes of narrative” stated by Roland Barthes. Thus, it was aimed to reveal the messages Yisrael Katz wanted to convey through signs. In addition, the study investigated the frequency of Katz’s posts on Erdoğan, and the prominent themes and actors in the posts by using content analysis. As a result of the study conducted, it was seen that Katz used the hermeneutic code, proairetic code, semantic code, symbolic code, and cultural code in most of his visually supported posts to criticize Erdoğan, included political actors in his posts, addressed the Turkish people and the opposition as the target audience and generally drew attention to themes such as “dictatorship”, “anti-Semitism”, “freedom of expression”, “future”, “modern Republic”, “Ottoman Empire”. Moreover, Istanbul, the Hagia Sophia Mosque, and the Turkish flag were frequently used signifiers.
Keywords : Dijital Diplomasi, Sosyal Medya, Diplomatik Kriz, İsrail, Türkiye

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