Browsing by Subject "Turkish nationalism"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Open Access
Contested nationalisms : Turkish nationalist propaganda in the Sanjak of Alexandretta
(2015-12) Demirci Akyol, Esra
This thesis analyzes the Turkish nationalist propaganda carried out in the Sanjak of Alexandretta during the process of annexation to demonstrate that the Sanjak provides a special case for the study of Republican Turkish nationalism by showing its highly pragmatic and speculative political/ideological discourse in the 1930s. The ways with which the Sanjak region was integrated into the newly defined “Turkish nation” are examined by utilizing archival documents, secondary sources as well as oral history interviews. The special case of the migration of the conservative Sunni Turks to Damascus and the nationalist propaganda towards the Alawite population of the region are brought forward as examples for the pragmatically inclusive nature of Kemalist nationalism.
Open Access
In Between Democracy and Secularism: The Case of Turkish Civil Society
(2013) Cevik, S.; Tas H.
Since 2011, the Arab uprisings, signaling a new wave of political mobilization, have restored belief in the potential for civil society to make democratic openings. Nevertheless, the academic literature up to the present has attributed the enduring authoritarianism in the Middle East region to the weakness or dominantly Islamist nature of civil society and promoted the development of secular platforms. This article argues that the discussion about civil society is misplaced, and the democratic potential of civil society is not related to its being Islamic or secular, but rather to its attachment to the state. For this purpose, it examines the emergence of a secularist civil societal current in Turkey with special focus on one of its major manifestations, the Republic Rallies in 2007. © 2013 Copyright Editors of Middle East Critique.
Open Access
İYİ Party nationalism, 2017-2024
(2024-09) Karaçalık, Reyhan Cemre
This thesis examines the political position of the İYİ Party, with a particular focus on its nationalism. It first covers the political trajectory of the party from its establishment in 2017 to the end of its founding leader, Meral Akşener’s tenure in 2024, and addresses the discussions surrounding its ideological stance during this period. Then, through semi-structured interviews with ten party elites conducted in April 2024, supplemented by party documents and official statements, this research examines how these elites perceive their party’s position at the end of its founding phase. Based on this, the thesis explores where the İYİ Party can be located within the broader context of nationalist ideology in Turkey and argues that, despite frequent comparisons with the MHP, the İYİ Party aligns with official nationalism and upholds the Republican legacy in opposition to the ‘destructive’ Islamist authoritarianism of the AK Party over the past two decades. Their adherence to official nationalist ideology is evident across various policy areas, serving both as a source of moderation and as a basis for fear and suspicion towards minorities, external powers, their perceived internal agents, and refugees—driven by the party’s fixation on cultural unity and territorial integrity, which is itself rooted in official nationalism. Even in its seemingly progressive stance on women's rights, the İYİ Party reveals a complex interplay of progressive and traditional views. Overall, these dilemmas and contradictions in the party’s nationalist ideology continue to raise questions about its democratic and moderate image.
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Kurdun dişine soya değdi
(Bilkent University, 2022) Akkaya, Yiğit Cem; İl, Oğuzhan; Köseoğlu, Hande; Tural, Ata Ege; Sügür, Ahmet Umut
Hasan Ferit Cansever 1891-1969 yılları arasında yaşamış bir tıp doktoru ve Türk Ocaklı fikir adamıdır. Hasan Ferit Cansever, Türkiye’de veganlık akımını gündeme sokmaya ve propaganda etmeye çalışan ilk isimdir ve bu yönüyle dönemindeki diğer doktor ve düşünürlerden ayrılmaktadır. Bu çalışma Cansever’in veganlık üzerine görüşlerini analiz etmekte ve onun bu alandaki çalışmalarının yarattığı etkiyi ortaya koymaktadır.
Open Access
Paradoxes of a cold war sufi woman: Sâmiha Ayverdi between Islam, nationalism, and modernity
(Cambridge University Press, 2013) Aytürk, İ.; Mignon, L.
Widely recognized by nationalists, Islamists and conservatives as the heroine of the Turkish Right in the twentieth century, Sâmiha Ayverdi influenced the renaissance of right-wing politics in Turkey as an important leader of the Rifaî order, a prolific author, an unyielding anti-communist, and finally as an institution-builder for right-wing causes. This article focuses on the apparent paradoxes in Ayverdi's long career, such as her modernist interpretation of Islam, her relationship with her sufi master, preference for memoirs, and her unabashed elitism. Such characteristics defy clichés associated with the stereotypical conservative/nationalist/ Islamist intellectual in Cold War Turkey. Our in-depth study of Ayverdi's works thus reveals the complexity of right-wing identities, and the fact that our protagonist is an outspoken woman intellectual also adds an important twist to the story.
Open Access
Politics of nationhood and the displacement of the founding Moment: contending histories of the Turkish nation
(Cambridge University Press, 2017) Çınar, A.; Taş, H.
This study examines the conception of nationhood developed by a political movement referred to as Ulusalclllk (nationalism), which emerged at the turn of the century. We focus on ways in which the Ulusalcl movement makes use of nation-building techniques to establish and propagate its own version of Turkish nationhood as one that is primordially secular and patriotic. This is expressed in its opposition to Islamism, Ottomanism, and what it sees as imperialist Western powers. We argue that the most significant technique Ulusalcl nationalists use to rebuild Turkish nationhood is a relocation of the nation's founding moment, from the official Kemalist one marked by the founding of the Republic in 1923 to the War of Independence fought against the European powers between 1919 and 1922. Our premise is that nationhood is ultimately the product of storytelling, and that the politics of nationhood involves the contentious production, dissemination, and negotiation of different stories and their corresponding founding moments. We analyze the story of Turkish nationhood told in the bestselling book Those Crazy Turks, which became the bible of the Ulusalcl movement. We argue that the Ulusalcl narration of Turkish nationhood interpellates a new national subject that is primordially secular, militaristically patriotic, and adamantly anti-Western. These are projected as essential qualities that must, at all cost, be upheld and defended against Islamist, Ottomanist, and Western powers that are conspiring to bring Turkey down. © 2017 Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History.
Open Access
The racist critics of Atatürk and Kemalism, from the 1930s to the 1960s
(SAGE Publications, 2011) Aytürk, İ.
This article examines racist attitudes toward Atatürk and Kemalism from the 1930s to the 1960s. Liberal, leftist and conservative-Islamist critics of republican Turkey's founder and his policies have contributed to a widely shared image that, even if Kemalism was not essentially racist, the Kemalist approach to religious and ethnic minorities could hardly be described as egalitarian. Thus one is taken by surprise to uncover a parallel layer of virulent racist criticism, hidden under the deposit of decades of anti-Kemalist discourse. The most important ideologue of racism in Turkey, Nihâl Atsiz, and his circle attacked Atatürk's leadership, condemned Turkey's foreign policy, and particularly the appeasement policy vis-à-vis the Soviet Union, and, most importantly, ridiculed Kemalist attempts at building a civic nation model in the early republican era. Turkish racists never considered Atatiirk and the Kemalists as fellow nationalists; on the contrary, the research for this article shows that racists questioned their nationalist credentials and accused Kemalists of being cosmopolitans. The acrimonious relationship between the racists and the Kemalist establishment can be taken as an example of how the latter oscillated between a western, democratic orientation and an inward-looking, xenophobic worldview, providing us, therefore, with a more complicated and multi-faceted picture of Kemalism. © 2011 The Author.
Open Access
Religion and ethno-nationalism: Turkey's Kurdish issue
(John Wiley & Sons, 2013) Sarıgil, Zeki; Fazlıoğlu, Ömer
One approach within the Islamic camp treats Islam, which emphasizes overarching notions such as the 'Islamic brotherhood' and 'ummah', as incompatible with ethno-nationalist ideas and movements. It is, however, striking that in the last decades, several Islamic and conservative groups in Turkey have paid increasing attention to the Kurdish issue, supporting their ethnic demands and sentiments. Even more striking, the leftist, secular Kurdish ethno-nationalists have adopted a more welcoming attitude toward Islam. How can we explain such intriguing developments and shifts? Using original data derived from several elite interviews and a public opinion survey, this study shows that the struggle for Kurdish popular support and legitimacy has encouraged political elites from both camps to enrich their ideological toolbox by borrowing ideas and discourses from each other. Further, Turkish and Kurdish nationalists alike utilize Islamic discourses and ideas to legitimize their competing nationalist claims. Exploring such issues, the study also provides theoretical and policy implications. © ASEN/John Wiley & Sons Ltd 2013.
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Türk Ocaklarının ermeni meselesine bakış açısı
(Bilkent University, 2023) Saydut,Sude Nas; Kandemir,Emre; Tuna,Eda; Ozünel, Mahmut Can,; İzmirli, Boran
Türk Ocakları, Türkçülük düşüncesi etrafında 1912’de kurulmuş ve Türkçülük alanında çalışmalar yapmıştır. Kurulduğu günden beri ülke gündeminde yer tutmuş önemli olay ve olguları kendi perspektiflerinden incelemiş ve tartışmışlardır. Bu olgulardan biri de Ermeni Meselesidir. Bu kapsamda makale, Türk Ocaklarının Ermeni Meselesine karşı genel tutumu ve bu konuyla ilgili yaptığı çalışmaları incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çeşitli makaleler, söyleşiler, videolar ve dergilerden yararlanılmıştır. Türk Ocaklarının bu mesele hakkındaki faaliyetlerini aktarmakta Türk Ocakları Genel Başkan Yardımcısı Prof. Dr. Mehmet Şahingöz ile yapılan röportaj merkeze alınmıştır. Makale, Türk Ocaklarının bu meseleyi nasıl değerlendirdiğine ve görüşlerinin öğrenilmesine ışık tutacaktır.