The rabaa sign as discourse of political protest

Political discourse deals not only with discursive political practices such as cabinet meetings, parliamentary debates, bilis and laws, bureaucratic documents, party propaganda, media interviews but also oral and visual protests. In the dictionary, protest is “an expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, often in opposition to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid”. The current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was powerless to prevent the events and the massacre of thousands of civilians and protesters for the support of elected president Mohamad Morsi at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square but he was to protest the massacre and the cruelty by showing the Rabaa sign, four fingered hand except thumb, Rabaa meaning four in Arabic. This sign is thought to originate in Turkey, where Erdogan, who was then prime minister, protested the events and the Arab spring in Bursa in 2013 and popularized the sign later all over Turkey. The sign is today the symbol of nationalism and protest against the engineers of Arab spring and the coups d’Etat in the countries including Turkey. This four-finger salute turned into a sign of solidarity of those against “those with imperial goals in the region”. Erdogan popularized the sign as a protest and turned it into a symbol of solidarity for Turkey, put emphasis on the national unity stating each finger symbolizes “one nation, one flag, one state and one homeland”. The Rabaa sign becomes the symbol of anti-coup resistance specifically after the 15th of July 2016 attempted coup in Turkey behind which is the FETO supported by a “mastermind” (üst akil). The political power uses the symbol to create Islamic brotherhood and nationalism while the opposition party claims that the sign is the symbol of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which is considered by the opposition as a terrorist organization. The present study aims to shed light on the political discourse of protest taking Rabaa sign as a case, the sign that appeared following the massacre in Egypt and which became the sign of solidarity and then the official sign of Erdogan’s party, Justice and Development Party in Turkey. We will draw on the theory of protest, political symbolism and political discourse and analyze the relation between discourse of protest and political signs. Then, we will examine the Rabaa sign as the sign of political discourse of protest. © 2020 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.