This chapter examines the deep-rooted socio-cultural divides in Turkey that gave rise to the brand of populism that Erdoğan and the JDP elite skilfully deployed. Firstly, the chapter evaluates the concepts of 'cleavage' and 'divide' and embraces the latter: a term referring to a more flexible and malleable political frontier between contending political parties and actors in a given political system. The chapter also examines the concept of populism from a theoretical point of view and adopts Ostiguy’s view, which sees populism as an appeal/style that is deeply related to the socio-cultural divides in a given society. This socio-cultural divide is the high–low (or anti-populism–populism) divide as formulated by Ostiguy. Then, the chapter moves on to analyse voter profiles as well as leadership figures of the JDP and the main opposition Republican People’s Party. This analysis illustrates the relevance of a very salient high–low divide in Turkish politics. The analysis of the discursive and behavioural examples further consolidates the argument of the chapter that it is neither the left–right nor the secular–religious divide but the anti-populism–populism divide that provides the best lens through which to understand the appeal of Erdoğan’s JDP among the underprivileged majority of Turkey.