Aposto Politics

What to expect from Turkish foreign policy in President Erdoğan's third term.

Turkey's Pragmatic Islamist

Parallel to liberalism, conservatism, Islamism, or socialism; the origins of nationalism can be traced back to the late Ottoman Empire. The modernisation/westernisation movement which began in the Ottoman Empire with the Tanzimat reforms aimed at restoring the empire, which had lagged behind Europe economically and technologically, to its ‘former glory,’ while seeking ways to keep the state together against nationalist movements in the Balkans and increasing pressure from Russia. The intellectuals and statesmen of the period proposed four different solutions to these searches: Ottomanism, Islamism, Turkism (in Yusuf Akçura's words, 'Üç Tarz-ı Siyaset', can be translated as three kinds of policies), and Westernism. As the subject of this article, I will discuss how Turkism was dealt with in the late Ottoman period, its intellectual leaders, and its transformation and articulation within the Republican regime.Tanıl Bora, who has made extensive studies on political ideologies in Turkey, defines Turkish nationalism in his book&nbsp;‘Cereyanlar’ as follows:‘The self-presentation of Turkish nationalism has always been a narrative of delay. In this narrative, the reason for lagging behind modernisation is the delay in the realisation of nationality and nation-building. This haste has led Turkish nationalism to be shaped by a strong perception of threat and a concern for survival. It is a common characteristic of all nationalisms that emerged after the ones in Western Europe to some degree. The difference between Turkish nationalism is that, like most late nationalisms, it was shaped not in the effort to gain independence, but in the anxiety and trauma of losing an empire.’<h3 dir="ltr" fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The birth of Turkism</h3>As Tanıl Bora puts it, the delay in the realisation and construction of the nation was, according to some of the late Ottoman intellectuals, the sole cause of both the defeat in the Balkan Wars and the disintegration of the empire. The loss of Rumelia, which was the backbone of the Ottoman Empire, as a result of heavy and protracted wars led the nationalist intellectuals of that period to search for new answers to the question ‘What is the homeland?’ and the concept of ‘Turan,’ the red goal (Red Apple) of Turkism, was derived. The lines of Ziya Gökalp, one of the founders of Turkish nationalism, ‘Homeland is neither Turkey nor Turkestan for Turks. Homeland is a great and eternal country, Turan,’ became a significant slogan for Turkish nationalism and the definition of the ideal of a homeland for a long period.Ziya Gökalp and Yusuf Akçura are two significant figures with founding roles in the development of Turkish nationalism as an ideology. Akçura (former director of Turkish Historical Society) advocated the idea of unity among Ottoman, Tatar, and Central Asian Turks against the Russian Empire's oppression and assimilation policy against the Turkic peoples of Russia and Central Asia in the early 20th century. Gökalp's nationalism, on the other hand, can be described as more localised as it appealed to the Turks in Anatolia. One of the most distinctive features of Turkism, which began to emerge in the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, is the distance between the first and the idea of Islamism. The Islamism of the period, which advocated that the Sultan should use the power of the caliphate to become the leader of the world's Muslims, also saw the loss of the Balkans and the large share of Muslims in the Empire's population distribution as an opportunity to prevent the disintegration of the state. Turkism, on the other hand, included the Turkic peoples of both Russia and Central Asia, rather than the Arab population of the Empire, within the definition of a nation, and argued that a Turkic Union would be the only salvation of the state.<h3 dir="ltr" fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Early Republican nationalism</h3>The Republic of Turkey, established after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, inherited many institutions and traditions from the Ottoman Empire, as well as the dominant ideologies of the period. As a manifestation of the ideological conjuncture of the period, the young Republic, built on the concept of the nation-state, also adopted a nationalist ideology.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/0/1664102009989.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.62" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">The fact that nationalist ideology was very strong in Turkey and the Balkan countries in the 1920s paved the way for the population exchange between Turkey and Greece. The Republican regime, which adopted the concept of a homogeneous nation, sent the majority of the minority population with this exchange and relatively achieved its goal of a homogeneous population. The Kurdish population was the only people who remained outside the homogeneous Turkish nation. The other nations in Anatolia could easily be included in the definition of the ‘Turkish nation’ due to their small population size and the relative unity of language and culture.Professor Doctor Murat Somer from Koç University defines early Republican nationalism as ‘positive nationalism and negative nationalism.’&nbsp;<blockquote fr-original-style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); border-color: rgb(37, 44, 60); border-width: 4px; font-style: italic; padding-left: 10px;" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); border-color: rgb(37, 44, 60); border-width: 4px; font-style: italic; padding-left: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; border-left-style: solid; box-sizing: border-box;">‘Positive nationalism tries to produce a unifying and inclusive answer to the question 'Who does the nation consist of?’ It focuses on building a society by giving citizens a common identity and denominator to different minority groups that do not see each other as part of the same group without rejecting their differences. Negative nationalism, on the other hand, focuses more on exclusion and separation. By claiming to be based on an already existing society and identity, it tries to exclude those who are outside that people and identity.’</blockquote>Somer argues that these two types of nationalism initiated the Republic. Republican-era Turkish nationalism can be defined as positive nationalism in the sense that it was able to unite many people with different ethnic identities in Anatolia under the Turkish identity.&nbsp;On the other hand, there was also a negative nationalism that excluded Kurds, Alevis, and Circassians by not accepting them with their own identities. As we enter the second century of the Republic, the only way to ensure social peace despite the polarization of society around ethnic identities and political ideologies is through the revival of an inclusive and unifying positive nationalism, Professor Doctor Murat Somer points out.<h3 dir="ltr" fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Turkish nationalism, which takes the fight against communism as its motto: 1970s</h3>After the Second World War, Turkey joined the US-led Western camp politically and economically and entered a period in which ideologies transformed as politics transformed. Established as a defense alliance against the Soviet Union, NATO was also the flag bearer of the liberal-capitalist Western world's fight against communism. In 1952, Turkey became a member of NATO, and the Soviet threat made anti-communism the essential reference point of politics and the dominant ideology.From the 1940s onwards, Turkish nationalism adopted the fight against communism, and formed an ideological alliance with the political regime, and began to transform its discourse and actions accordingly. Especially in the 60s and 70s, with the strengthening of leftist movements in Turkey, in parallel with the global trend, Turkish nationalism accelerated its street organizations and added a paramilitary force to its political power. The Anti-Communist Associations, the National Union of Turkish Students (MTTB), and the Grey Wolves (Ülkü Ocakları), as the violent street organizations of Turkish nationalism (widely known as ‘ülkücü’), gained an importance in the political atmosphere of the period. The 1970s can also be considered the beginning of a period in which Turkish nationalism and Islamism formed a coalition, and as a result, nationalism split into different camps.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/0/1664102084978.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="0.93" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"><h3 dir="ltr" fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The era of developmental nationalism and Islamist nationalism: 1980s</h3>The September 12 military coup led to political, economic, and ideological structural transformations in Turkey. In other words, the September 12th coup was carried out to realise these structural transformations. In the 1970s, as political violence and street incidents spiraled out of control, street organizations of both left-wing and right-wing groups paved the way for major incidents of violence.&nbsp;Nationalist groups, who considered it their duty to fight against the communist movement, were at the vanguard of political violence during this period with the driving effect of the Nationalist Front coalitions in government. After the September 12 coup, the military government controlled both left and right organizations with executions and imprisonment, but conservative nationalism became the dominant ideology of the new regime. With the influence of the US policy of using Islamism as an ‘antidote’ against communism, Turkish nationalism and Islamism were to create a conservative-nationalist symbiosis. Although the more conservative and Islamist groups within the ‘Nationalist Work Party’ (MÇP), the nationalist party of the period, tried to create a transformation within the party for a while, they left the MÇP in 1992 and founded the Grand Unity Party (BBP) under the leadership of Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu. While the MÇP (and its successor, the MHP), under the leadership of Alparslan Türkeş, adopted a more Turanist and secular nationalism, the BBP which was under the leadership of Yazıcıoğlu, became the representative of Islamist nationalism.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/0/1664102152830.png" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.79" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">On the other hand, the Motherland Party (ANAP) under Turgut Özal could be seen as the representative of developmental nationalism. Adopting a liberal-conservative ideology, the ANAP led by Özal represents a more worldly and milder nationalism with its approach to economic development. Özal’s quote, ‘It is not nationalism to boast about the past because Mehmet the Conqueror did this, or Yavuz Sultan Selim did that. Nationalism is the ability of societies to boast of their deeds at that moment. Can you compete with the world? Do you have better painters, artists, merchants, politicians?’ can be seen as a summary of developmental nationalism.<h3 dir="ltr" fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The resurgence of nationalism: 1990s</h3>By the 1990s, global and local developments paved the way for the resurgence and strengthening of Turkish nationalism. Both Turgut Özal and Süleyman Demirel enthusiastically embraced the idea that Turkey could lead the Turkic Republics in Central Asia, which had gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Turkey, as a democratic and secular country, would be a role model for the new Turkic Republics, and a Turkic union would be formed by strengthening political-economic-commercial ties.&nbsp;Süleyman Demirel, the Prime Minister of the time, expressed this idea with these words ‘A Turkey with one end at the Adriatic Sea and the other at the Great Wall of China has emerged.’ With Russia boosting its influence over the former Soviet Republics and the Turkic Republics, in addition to not welcoming Turkey's leadership, it soon became obvious that this ideal was nothing but a &nbsp;dream. Another significant agenda item of the 1990s was the escalation of the armed struggle against the PKK and its transformation into a low-intensity war. Both the war in the southeast and the increasing number of martyrs led to a revival of Turkish nationalism and the refilling of the enemy profile left vacant by the collapse of communism.<h3 dir="ltr" fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The dominance of Islamist-nationalism and secular nationalism as a reaction: 2000s</h3>In the 2000s, we see that Islamism became the dominant ideology for a long time after the AKP came to power. But after 2015, Islamism and nationalism formed a coalition again, and Islamist nationalism became dominant. In the first years of the AKP’s rule, Turkish nationalism assumed a softer identity due to the wind of EU membership and the Kurdish initiative. Then, with the arrest of high-ranking military officers in the Ergenekon-Balyoz investigations, the failure of the Kurdish initiative, and the resurgence of the fight against terrorism, nationalism started to climb again. In parallel with the AKP's coalition with the MHP, we can say that the Islamist-nationalist alliance became the dominant ideology.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/0/1664102231800.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.50" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">We also see that secular nationalism, as a reaction to conservative nationalism, has started to find a response in society and politics and has been on the rise in recent years.&nbsp;Following the 1980 military coup, the Turkish-Islamic synthesis, the main ideology of the new political regime, underwent an ideological transformation and evolved into a secular nationalism with the urbanization of the Turkish population, the deepening integration of younger generations into the world, the increase in the number of university graduates and the adoption of a more secular lifestyle. In this new nationalist ideology, the consciousness of Turkishness in the previous version of the Turkish-Islamic synthesis remained more dominant, while the emphasis on Islam decreased, creating a new synthesis that was more integrated with the world and more secular.

Ottomanism ile ilgili hikayeler