Abstract:

This study examines the departure campaign conducted in the process of the European Union (EU) referendum in the UK and focuses on the Vote Leave (VL) and UK Independence Party (UKIP) campaign, which is the leading opponent to the departure actors that shape the referendum discussions. The examples of the study are discussions about Turkey’s EU membership. The main objective of the study is to reveal the EU representations they are trying to build through the European doubtful statements they are producing about the membership of Turkey, and to clarify how they are trying to legitimize the Brexit decision. In the study, a speech-historical approach was adopted as a research method. According to the findings of the study, in the dissemination, the possible membership of Turkey was instrumentalized, the situation of the EU and the United Kingdom's continued membership in the EU was problematized. This has also served as a ground preparation for the votes for Brexit, allowing Europe’s doubt to be literally re-produced.

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