Public Sentiment of a Pandemic – Securitizing Health in Turkey

The relationship between pandemics and security is a relatively new phenomenon, that has attracted more attention worldwide, especially as countries take precautions against Covid-19. The spread of Covid-19 on a global scale and its impact on all dimensions of social life required it to be addressed as a security issue. In this context, the fact that each nation-state continues its struggle with the understanding of self-sufficiency in the fight against Covid-19 has created the need to examine states' responses to the epidemic. In this study, Turkey's response to Covid-19 was examined within the scope of the securitization theory of the Copenhagen School. How health is constructed as a security issue, the discourses of securitizing actors and the synchronization of the audience's response are examined.