In the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution, which began in England, opened the door to an era of revolutions in which political, economic, and social changes took place, especially in Europe. The growth of cities under the influence of the Industrial Revolution, the rapid increase in migration from villages to cities to meet the labour needs of newly established factories, and the new lifestyles created by the urban life gave impetus to sociological transformations. In this period of great political and technological developments, history was accelerated, and the 'modern world' was ushered in.<h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Modernisation and conservatism&nbsp;</h2>Although it is not possible to give a clear definition of what modernity is, the definition commonly used in Turkish history is based on the European lifestyle and the political and legal systems of European countries. On the other hand, one of the building blocks of modernisation is the city and urban life. Cities or towns are also the places where local and foreign people interact and where modern public spaces allow for the expression of all kinds of ideas emerge. When large masses of people who had adopted a traditional, closed, kinship, and neighbourly lifestyle in rural areas migrated&nbsp;en masse to big cities under the influence of the Industrial Revolution, they stepped into a new world where individualism was more prominent and modernisation largely eliminated traditional lifestyles.Social segments who are oppressed by the heavy and precarious working conditions created by the Industrial Revolution and who think that their traditional lifestyles have been eliminated by the rapid and destructive effects of modernisation want to protect and preserve their traditions, values, and rural lifestyles against the modernisation effect. Therefore, conservatism emerged in Europe as an ideology advocating the preservation of tradition or religious values against the transformative and destructive modernisation effect on traditional lifestyles and social values. What needs to be emphasised here is that conservatism is a reflex rather than a reaction against modernisation and that it is a desire to preserve tradition while modernising rather than a rejection of modernisation. As Tanıl Bora puts it in his book Cereyanlar (Political ideologies in Turkey), 'Conservatism is an ideology of restoration. It is not anti-modernist, it aims at taming modernity with tradition.'The importance of the French Revolution in the birth of conservatism is also undeniably great. In France, where the aristocracy and centralised government had a centuries-old history, the speed of political and social change brought about by the revolution significantly affected the peasant population, most of whom lived in rural areas, and conservatism, which aimed to preserve tradition against rapid change, began to gain strength. In this framework, conservatism aims for a return to the ancien régime, which defined the existing system before the revolution.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/5/1663333657587.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" alt="french revolution" ratio="1.27" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">As with all ideologies, conservatism has different interpretations and forms of implementation. While the conservative ideology developed in continental Europe is more repressive and reactionary, the interpretation of conservatism in the UK and the US is more flexible and open to development. Theorised on the views of the British politician Edmund Burke, conservatism is an interpretation of conservatism that advocates modernisation while adhering to tradition. The Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is the most prominent representative of this conservatism, which is explained by the motto 'change to preserve'.After World War II, the rise of the social welfare state in Europe paved the way for the strengthening of the progressive conservatism represented by Burke. During this period, the rise of Christian Democratic parties, particularly in Germany and Italy, also contributed to the strengthening of conservatism in Europe and at the same time to its progressive ground. The transformation of the conservative-right ideology in the 1970s and the rise to prominence of the neoliberal understanding called the 'New Right' paved the way for the conservative ideology, in which the state was strong and at the forefront, to enter a new phase. The most important representatives of the new neoliberal system, in which the state retreated to the background and the market gained power, were Ronald Reagan of the Republican Party in the USA and Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom.It is possible to say that conservatism, whose historical development we have discussed above, is built on hierarchy, authority, tradition, and property ownership.<h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Conservatism in Turkey</h2>As stated at the beginning of this article, conservatism aims to hold on to its roots against the rapid and destructive social effects of modernisation and to transform and develop without losing them. In societies like Turkey, where modernisation does not spread over time and is implemented with a top-down rather than grassroots approach, conservatism is used as a shield against modernisation and takes on a more reactionary identity rather than a progressive one.The answer to this question can be found in conservatism defined as nationalist-conservative or nationalist-sacred, which is a blend of Turkish nationalism, Ottoman history, and Islam. Therefore, it is not possible to separate conservatism in Turkey from nationalism and Islamism. In Tanıl Bora's words, 'Conservatism, rather than being a current of thought, has been the essence of the Turkish right, nationalism, and Islamism, and has contributed to the formation of a broad ground of minimum common ground.'After the September 12, 1980 coup, conservative nationalism was accepted as the dominant ideology in the new political and economic regime established by the military regime and supported by the regime. Conservative nationalism became the dominant ideology of the ANAP led by Turgut Özal (former president), both as an antidote to the neoliberal economic regime and the fight against communism. Considering that obedience to the state is one of the core values of conservatism, it is clear that the most functional and safe ideology for the repressive military regime was conservatism blended with nationalism.In 2002, the AKP came to power and opened a new chapter in Turkish politics by defining its ideology as conservative-democratic. AKP's leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defined conservative democracy in the following words:'A modernity that does not exclude tradition, a universality that accepts localism, a rationality that does not reject meaning, a change that is not fundamentalist.'We can consider this moderate and progressive conservatism of the AKP as a transitional ideology implemented at a time when the goal of European Union membership was powerful, the military and the bureaucracy continued to be hesitant and even threatening, and the AKP could not fully consolidate its political authority. The AKP, which eliminated the threats against its power from the military and bureaucracy in a short period and consolidated its power by continuously increasing its vote rates in the elections, gradually moved away from conservative democracy and adopted a nationalist-conservative ideology based on Islamism. As in the early Republican period, Ottoman history became a reference point for conservatism as a symbol of power and glory, and the authoritarian and oppressive regime of Abdülhamid II was garnished with the image of a 'strong ruler who resisted foreign powers' and equated with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The slogans of AKP supporters, 'We will not abandon you to Abdülhamid's loneliness', clearly summarise the image of a strong leader and a strong state created during this period.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/5/1663333687081.jpeg" width="550" alt="çavuşoğlu" style="width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" ratio="1.50" fr-original-style="width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"> Yeni BirlikAs the AKP consolidated its power and took control of the media, a policy of establishing a cultural hegemony was put into practice and efforts to turn nationalist-conservatism into the dominant culture began. In this period, the increase in the number of history series featuring historical characters, the change in the content of the National Education curriculum, and the predominance of both Islamic and nationalist discourses in political discourses and party propaganda found great support in the conservative sector and a period of a rematch against the modernisation movements of the Republican regime began. In 2018, the AKP, which allied with the MHP (Nationalist Movement Party), added a strong nationalist vein to Islamist conservatism and enforced a revanchist, Islamic values-emphasiSing and ultra-nationalist conservatism, perhaps more than ever seen in the Republican era.

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