1. The Politics of the Contemporary Middle East (MEMS), 2014-15)
Week 3: The Rise of Turkish Nationalism

2. Nations and Nationalism
Ethnic and Civic Nationalism
Perennialism and Primordialism
Nations as entities that have existed throughout history
Modernist explanations
Eric Hobsbawn
Nationalism and the modern state created nations traced to the early nineteenth century
Both are creations of the bourgeoisie and intelligentsia
Elie Kedourie
Origins from French Revolution, Kantian philosophy and alienation of elites
Language, race and culture used to forge boundaries of nation-state
Ernest Gellner
Imposition of an elite ‘high culture’ at dawn of industrialisation
Benedict Anderson
Nations as socially constructed “imagined” communities
Importance of print capitalism in local vernacular
Ethno-Symbolism
Anthony Smith and John Hutchinson
“Ethnies” as a precursor to nationalist sentiment and organisation
Nations as felt & lived communities. Members share homeland & culture
State is the aspiration of a national group

3. Understanding Turkish Nationalism
Not perennial or primordial
Top-down nationalism (Tilly)
Ottoman Legacy and Nationalism as part of state- building process in early republican period
Republican period break from Ottoman past
The extent that Islam remained an identity marker
Ethno-religious community transformed into a nation in face of acute external threat

4. Trauma and legacy of Ottoman Decline
Millets System
Orthodox/Greek
Armenian
Assyrians/Syriac Christian
Protestants
Jews
Muslim inclusive of all sects
Saving The Empire
Tanzimat period after Edict of Gulhane, 1839 and 1856 Khatti-I Humaun – The Illustrious Rescript
Minority rights
Military reforms
Education reforms
Political reforms parliament and constitution
Better communications system

5. Islam & Ottomanism: The Young Ottomans
Ottomanism and Islam as means of strengthening empire
Young Ottomans: Intellectual elites who consider means to save the empire.
Many exiled in Europe
Critics of the Tanzimat, Sultan and reforms
Concerned not of reforms in themselves but the way in which they were carried out
Constitutionalists
Abolition of 1876 constitution
Involved in political affairs as well as writing plays, poetry, etc
Ibrahim Sinasi,
Pioneer of Turkish newspaper, wrote first Turkish play and book of proverbs
Namik Kemal,
Poet and playwright. Coins terms “Vatan” (fatherland) and “Hurriyet “(political freedom).
Ali Sauvi
Journal editor and religious scholar. Died in a coup attempt.

6. Young Turks, Turkism and the decent to Ottoman collapse
Yusuf Akcura,
(Intellectual and editor)
Defines Turkishness in purely ethnic terms. Seeks Pan-Turkish unity and move away from Islamic values
Young Turk Revolution, 1908
Balkan Wars
Radical faction of CUP enters Govt – Enver, Talat and Cemal.
Muslim immigration into Anatolia
Vatan and emergence of Anatolian heartland
World War 1
Homogenisation
Turkism as ideology
Nationalist writers such as Ziya Gokalp and Halide Edip are important pillars of new Republican ideology
Ziya Gokalp, (sociologist, poet)
“We Turks must work to create a ‘Turkish-Islamic’ culture equipped with the reason and science of modern civilisation”
‘Turkism, Islamism, Modernism, ‘1918
Halide Idip Adivar,
(Novelist and feminist)
Strong independent female characters in novels of a nationalist theme

7. The Formation of Turkey
Ottoman defeat in WW1
Treaty of Sevres (1920)
Anatolia divided by great powers with Armenian state, Greek presence, possible Kurdish state and great power zones of influence
Mustafa Kemal launches revolution in Samsun in May 1919
Establishes Grand National Assembly in Ankara
Ottoman Govt issues Fatwa against Nationalists. Counter Fatwa made
Turkish-Armenian War – Oct-Dec 1920
Franco-Turkish War (May 1920-October 1921
Final stages of Greco-Turkish War,
Treaty of Lausanne and Proclamation of the Republic, 1923

8. The Rise of the Turkish Republic
State Building:
Abolishment of the office of the Sultan (Nov 1922), Caliph (March 1924)
Reform of headwear and dress, 1925
Closure of mausoleums and dervish lodges (Nov 1925)
Shift from Muslim to Christian Era in 1925
March 1926: Banning of Sharia law: new secular penal codes passed
Oct 1926: Turkish Civil Code passed: Women gained equality with men in matters such as divorce and inheritance.
Arabic Script abolished in 1928
Nation-Building and Identity:
Islam and the War of Independence
Shared memory
Immigration policies and homogenisation
Language reform and history thesis
‘Citizen Speak Turkish’
Converging Muslim Identities

9. Notes on Turkish Nationalism
Inclusive/Exclusive Paradox
Top-down state and nation building process
Role of Islam as marker for defining Turkish nation
The Kurdish question emerges
Legacy of Ottoman Empire and Millet system
Turbulent relationship between role of Islam, state and national identity
Multiple theories can be employed to understand Turkish nationalism