scholarly journals Understanding the Exclusionary Politics of Early Turkish Nationalism: An Ethnic Boundary-Making Approach

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Goalwin
Keyword(s):  
Early Years ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
National Community ◽  
Ethnic Boundary ◽  
Turkish Nationalism ◽  
Boundary Making ◽  
The Republic ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Ethnic Divide ◽  
Republic Of Turkey

* Final published version available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1315394 * Turkish nationalism has long presented a study in contrasts. The nationalist movement that created the Republic of Turkey sought to define the nation in explicitly civic and inclusive terms, promoting a variety of integrationist reforms. At the same time, however, those same nationalist politicians endorsed other policies that were far more exclusionary, expelling many religious and ethnic minorities from the new nation and imposing harsh restrictions on those who remained. The seemingly contradictory nature of Turkish nationalist policies has been mirrored by much of the scholarship on Turkish nationalism, which has often viewed Turkish nationality through the lens of the “civic/ethnic divide,” with various scholars arguing that the Turkish nation is exclusively civic or ethnic. This article seeks to transcend this dichotomous way of looking at Turkish nationalism. I argue that the policies previously seen as being exclusively civic or ethnic are in fact both examples of boundary-making processes, designed to forge a cohesive nationalist community. Seen through a boundary-making perspective, the seemingly contradictory nature of Turkish nationalist policies in its early years are not paradoxical at all, but represent a multi-dimensional effort to construct a cohesive national community that could replace the defunct Ottoman state.

scholarly journals Understanding the exclusionary politics of early Turkish nationalism: an ethnic boundary-making approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1150-1166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory J. Goalwin
Keyword(s):  
Early Years ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
National Community ◽  
Ethnic Boundary ◽  
Turkish Nationalism ◽  
Boundary Making ◽  
The Republic ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Ethnic Divide ◽  
Republic Of Turkey

Turkish nationalism has long presented a study in contrasts. The nationalist movement that created the Republic of Turkey sought to define the nation in explicitly civic and inclusive terms, promoting a variety of integrationist reforms. Those same nationalist politicians, however, endorsed other policies that were far more exclusionary, expelling many religious and ethnic minorities from the new nation and imposing harsh restrictions on those who remained. The seemingly contradictory nature of Turkish nationalist policies has been mirrored by much of the scholarship on Turkish nationalism, which has often viewed Turkish nationality through the lens of the “civic/ethnic divide,” with various scholars arguing that the Turkish nation is exclusively civic or ethnic. This article seeks to transcend this dichotomous way of looking at Turkish nationalism. I argue that the policies previously seen as being exclusively civic or ethnic are in fact both examples of boundary-making processes, designed to forge a cohesive nationalist community. Seen through a boundary-making perspective, the seemingly contradictory nature of Turkish nationalist policies in its early years is not paradoxical at all, but represents a multidimensional effort to construct a cohesive national community that could replace the defunct Ottoman state.

scholarly journals Book Review: Ryan Gingeras, Eternal Dawn: Turkey in the Age of Atatürk, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-84
Author(s):  
Evren Altinkas
Keyword(s):  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
The People ◽  
Turkish Nationalism ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Late Ottoman Empire ◽  
Republic Of Turkey ◽  
Late Ottoman

This book analyses the transformation from the late Ottoman period to the modern Republic of Turkey with a focus on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the reforms implemented during the early years of the republic. The book familiarizes the readers with the political, social and economic transformation of the country by focusing on specific cases and examples with a comprehensive historical background. Gingeras focuses on the historical background of major topics (e.g. Reforms, Kurdish Revolts, Turkish Nationalism etc.) in the early Republic of Turkey and connects them with the developments in the late Ottoman Empire. This book is different from previous works because it emphasizes the relations between the new state and the people in Anatolia.

The Commission for the Preservation of Antiquities and its role in the appropriation of İstanbul’s diverse heritage as national heritage (1939–1953)

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 75-99
Author(s):  
Pınar Aykaç
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Significant Aspect ◽  
National Heritage ◽  
Turkish Nationalism ◽  
National Monuments ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Early Republican ◽  
Republic Of Turkey ◽  
The City

AbstractThis paper argues that the early Republican attempts to reintegrate the Ottoman past into nationalist narratives later found their reflections in discussions regarding the preservation of İstanbul’s diverse heritage, coinciding with the redefinition of Turkish nationalism in the 1940s, incorporating Islam and marking a departure from the foundation ideology of the Republic of Turkey. In 1939, the Republican authorities decided to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1953. The Commission for the Preservation of Antiquities (Muhafaza-ı Asar-ı Atika Encümeni)—the body responsible for the preservation of historic monuments in İstanbul—was tasked with conducting restoration and repair works for the celebrations. Although the celebrations did not receive much attention in the following years, the annual celebrations in the city have now become a significant aspect of present-day İstanbul, which glorify its Ottoman-Islamic past. By presenting its negotiations and contestations with other state actors in the context of these preparations, this paper explores the role of the Preservation Commission in appropriating the inherited remnants of İstanbul’s multifaceted past as “national monuments.”

From Allegory to Parable: Inscriptions of Anatolia in the Turkish Novel

2007 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jale Parla
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
War Of Independence ◽  
Turkish Nationalism ◽  
Republican Era ◽  
The Republic ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Sacred Story ◽  
The Right ◽  
Changing Attitudes

AbstractThe Turkish novel became a national chronotope proper with the founding of the Republic in 1923 and the emergent conception of the national geography following the War of Independence (1919-1922). This was the Anatolian territory, with Ankara as the new capital of the nation instead of İstanbul which had been the Ottoman Empire's center for almost five centuries. Anatolia became the motherland on which the national consciousness of the new nation would be inscribed. In the novels of the republican era, Anatolian iconography and mythography illustrate how this setting became a persistent element of narrative structure as a significant topos in both senses of the word: as place and theme. An inquiry into the permutations of the theme of Anatolia since the War of Independence will reveal the changing attitudes and ideas related to Turkish nationalism and its most outstanding component, the cult of the father personified by Atatürk. This essay, however, does not only aim at a survey of an ideology's history via literature; it also investigates the Anatolian iconography and mythography, as they figure in the Turkish novel of the republican era, and touches upon the various narrative strategies that major Turkish novelists have employed in their search for the right form for this important content, the right form to either reinforce or undermine a sacred story.

THE RECASTING OF THE OTTOMAN PUBLIC DEBT AND THE ABOLITION OF THE CAPITULATIONS REGIME IN THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ACTION OF TURKEY LED BY MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATÜRK

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierluigi SIMONE
Keyword(s):  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
The Political ◽  
Byzantine Empire ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
International Debt ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Republic Of Turkey ◽  
Kemal Ataturk

The recast of the international debt contracted by the former Ottoman Empire and the overcoming of the capitulations regime that had afflicted Turkey for centuries, are two of the most relevant sectors in which the political and diplomatic action promoted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk has been expressed. Extremely relevant in this regard are the different disciplines established, respectively, by the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920 and then by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. After the Ottoman Government defaulted in 1875, an agreement (the Decree of Muharrem) was concluded in 1881 between the Ottoman Government and representatives of its foreign and domestic creditors for the resumption of payments on Ottoman bonds, and a European control of a part of the Imperial revenues was instituted through the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire was burdened by capitulations, conferring rights and privileges in favour of their subjects resident or trading in the Ottoman lands, following the policy towards European States of the Byzantine Empire. According to these capitulations, traders entering the Ottoman Empire were exempt from local prosecution, local taxation, local conscription, and the searching of their domicile. The capitulations were initially made during the Ottoman Empire’s military dominance, to entice and encourage commercial exchanges with Western merchants. However, after dominance shifted to Europe, significant economic and political advantages were granted to the European Powers by the Ottoman Empire. Both regimes, substantially maintained by the Treaty of Sèvres, were considered unacceptable by the Nationalist Movement led by Mustafa Kemal and therefore became the subject of negotiations during the Conference of Lausanne. The definitive overcoming of both of them, therefore represents one of the most evident examples of the reacquisition of the full sovereignty of the Republic of Turkey.

Hittites, Ottomans and Turks: Ağaoğlu Ahmed Bey and the Kemalist construction of Turkish nationhood in Anatolia

2008 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 141-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Erimtan
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Turkish Nationalism ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Republic Of Turkey

AbstractThis article analyses the position of the Hittites in the theoretical development of Turkish nationalism in the 20th century. The piece provides an outline of the full content of the Hittite claim in a Turkish nationalist context, particularly its promulgation as part of the so-called ‘Turkish History Thesis’. Following this, I will give full weight to the historical circumstances surrounding the emergence of the Hittite trope in Turkish writing. Basing myself on the work of Mete Tunçay, I will give proper prominence to the publication of the propaganda tractPontus Meselesi(1922). It is my contention that the Turkish intellectual of Azerî descent, Ağaoğlu Ahmed Bey, was the sole author of the textPontus Meselesi. The remainder of the article consists of a close reading of this geo-text. I will demonstrate that Ağaoğlu's discovery of the Hittites as worthy forebears for the Anatolian Muslims, whom he refers to as ‘Turks’ in his text, was the outcome of an ideologically motivated reading of 19th century European accounts of ancient Near Eastern history. The article shows that the propagation of the Kemalist concept of Turkish nationalism in Anatolia dates back to 1922, a year prior to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.

A SHORT HISTORY OF PALEONTOLOGY IN TURKEY, PART II: PALEONTOLOGY IN THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-243
Author(s):  
VOLKAN SARIGÜL
Keyword(s):  
Early Years ◽  
Geological Surveys ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scientists And Engineers ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Cenozoic Mammals ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
Republic Of Turkey

ABSTRACT Succeeding a period of wars and political turmoil, the reassuring policies of the new regime of Turkey positively influenced all branches of science, including geology which provided a basis for the earliest studies in paleontology, as it had done in the former Ottoman Turkey. Although most of the specialists were still foreigners during the early years of the republic, the government of Turkey under the leadership of Atatürk, rapidly established modern institutions in order to train native earth scientists and engineers of all sorts. Turkish paleontologists began to replace their foreign colleagues by the 1940s; and female Turkish paleontologists became especially prominent not only in the universities but also in the national geological surveys and mapping, and in fossil fuel exploration. Subsequent to their separation from departments of natural sciences, teaching fundamentals of paleontology was taken on by geology departments which, by the 1960s, started to evolve into departments of geological engineering. As a result, most Turkish paleontologists are geologists and most of them specialized either in micropaleontology or paleobotany. In contrast, paleontology of late Cenozoic mammals is dominated by graduates of anthropology programs.

Melancholic Modes, Healing, and Reparation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Gill
Keyword(s):  
Early Years ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Musical Modes ◽  
Classical Musicians ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Republic Of Turkey ◽  
The Way

Chapter 5 maps the way melancholy becomes lived as a reparative Turkish identity practice by musicians today. An outline is presented of five centuries of Ottoman musico-medicinal treatises on melancholy as disease and melancholic musics that aided physicians in the task of healing patients suffering from melancholy. This chapter oscillates between melancholy as affective practice and objects of melancholy—specific musical modes (makam-s) and the illness affecting one of the four bodily humors. The author exposes how contemporary Turkish classical musicians have resurrected Ottoman notions of the positive effects of melancholy after the medicalization of physiological states in the early years of the Republic of Turkey. Today, Turkish classical musicians deem melancholy a position to dwell in because it is pleasurable and connects individuals to one another.

scholarly journals “New Nation-Building” or What?: Serbian and Kosovan laws on expatriates

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Mr.Sc. Matvey Lomonosov
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The Political ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
National Community ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
The Republic ◽  
New Nation

Special legal provisions on preferential treatment of expatriates introduced during last decade by the kin-states are oftentimes construed by the scholars as visible sings and effective tools of new, post-territorial nation-building in Eastern Europe. However, the analysis of Serbian and Kosovan laws on citizenship and diaspora shows that the picture is more complex, whereas the situation varies across countries of the region. Despite the rising concerns with the issues of the co-ethnics since late 2000 the Serbian government for some years has been reluctant to introduce the exclusive preferential treatment for the Serbs in the realm of citizenship. Only the law passed in 2009 overtly showed that the executives and legislators of the Republic of Serbia now are on the way of creating post-territorial Serb national community. Contrariwise the political establishment of Kosovo equally pushing forward special laws on “diaspora” in 2008 and 2011 was rather concerned with forming and reasserting of as well as tightening its grip over post-territorial citizenry because of notable social and economic problems. In contrast to Easter European status laws, trans-border “ethnic relatives” of the Kosovan majority are effectively excluded by the documents from the membership in the “diaspora,” while the representatives of ethnic minorities from the territory of the country legally qualify for being Kosovo diasporans.

scholarly journals Evaluation of citizenship education and values education in the early years of the republic

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Sabri Becerikli ◽  
Sevda Gülşah Yıldırım
Keyword(s):  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Values Education ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Republic Of Turkey ◽  
Education Courses

Many governments in history have always wanted to educate their citizens according to their own perceptions. In the early years of the Republic, the administrators of the Republic of Turkey intended to educate citizens concurrent with the republican regime. The present study aims to investigate and reveal what kind of a citizen was desired to be educated in the first years of the Republic. From this point of view, numerous views of the administrators in the first years of the Republic were revealed and the citizenship education courses <em>(Musahabat-ı Ahlakiye </em>and <em>Malumat-ı Vataniye)</em> which were included in the 1924 Primary Schools Program were addressed. In order for the course to be able to be evaluated in terms of aims and citizenship education, a sample book from the textbooks of <em>Musahabat-ı Ahlakiye </em>and <em>Malumat-ı Vataniye</em>, which were taught in fourth and fifth grades in primary schools, was examined. The present study was designed with document analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods.

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