“From Caliphate to Secular Republic:
The Trajectory of Modern
Turkish History”
Prof. Uli Schamiloglu
Dept. of Languages & Cultures of
Asia
Chair, Central Asian Studies
Program
Chair (on leave), Middle East Studies
Program
mideast.wisc.edu
Teaching Snow in Wisconsin
Center for Research in the Humanities
(September 10, 2013)
Republic of Turkey
(A secular nation-state)
Population: 80,694,485 (July 2013 est.)
Ottoman Empire (1299-1923)
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1299, Osman Gazi:
origins as leader of a
beylik
Orhan captures Bursa
(1324)
1389, Battle of Kosovo
1402, Battle of Ankara
(loss to Timur)
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Image: Battle of
Nikopolis (1396)
Ottoman Empire (2)
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1453, Sultan Fatih
Mehmet conquers
Constantinople
(today: Istanbul)
Ottoman Empire (3)
Classical Period
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Islamic state
Sultan was from
Ottoman dynasty
Also Caliph (1517-1924)
Millet system
Devshirme system
Expansion to gates of
Vienna (1683),
throughout Middle East,
etc.
Ottoman Empire at its Peak
Ottoman Empire in the 19th Century
Tanzimat period (1839–1876)
Ottoman Empire was shrinking
New currency, post office, etc.
Educational reforms (including
new schools)
Efforts to eliminate corruption
European-style courts
Elimination of Islamic poll tax
on non-Muslims (cizye)
Granting of “Ottoman”
citizenship to all inhabitants of
the Empire without regard for
ethnicity or religion
Military reorganization with
universal conscription
New ideology of “Ottomanism”
Ottoman Empire in the 19th-20th Centuries
Ottoman Empire in the 19th Century (2)
Abdülhamit II (r. 1876-1909)
 1876-1878, First Constitutional
Era (closer to a constitutional
monarchy without parties)
 Promoted “Islamism” rather
than “Ottomanism”
 1908, Young Turk Revolution
leads to Second Constitutional
Era
 1909, Military force the Sultan
to abdicate (but many
Christians die in “countercoup”)
Young Turks
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Rise of Turkish nationalism
“Young Turks” as a secularist, nationalist reform
party opposed to absolute monarchy
Various groups merge as Committee of Union and
Progress (CUP)
1913, CUP seizes power in a coup
Armenian protests beginning in 1890s;
massacres known as “Armenian Genocide” begin
April 1915 (but killings on both sides)
At end of World War I, rump Ottoman Empire is
occupied (Constantinople, Smyrna/Izmir)
Middle East in 1914
Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)
Turkish War of Independence
(May 19, 1919 – July 24, 1923)
Republic of Turkey
(established October 29, 1923)
Looking to the West: Atatürk’s Reforms
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Turkish Grand National Assembly (1920)
Constitution (1921) rejects Sultan as source of
legitimacy
Abolition of sultanate (1922)
New republic declared (1923)
Capital moved to Ankara (1923)
New Constitution (1924)
Abolition of caliphate & office of sheyh ül-islam
(1924) & new Presidency of Religious Affairs
(today the Ministry of Religious Affairs)
International (Gregorian) calendar (1925)
Millet system abolished
Looking to the West: Atatürk’s Reforms (2)
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Principle of “laicism” (1937), individual faith is
guaranteed, but not religious communities
Regulation of clothing (1923-) and “Hat Law”
(1925) banning fez & turban for men, “Law on
Prohibited Garments” (1934) also banned veil
Use of Turkish as liturgical language (1932-1950)
Banning of Sufi orders and lodges (1925)
Introduction of civil code based on Swiss code &
penal code based on Italian code (1926)
Polygamy banned, gender equality in inheritance
New system of state-supervised coed education
New Western-style universities
Looking to the West: Atatürk’s Reforms (3)
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New Latin alphabet goes into effect (1/1/1929)
“Language reform” vs. Arabic & Persian words
Drive for literacy (1928)
Drive to Westernize language & education
“Law on Family Names” (1934)
New national ideology of “Turkism” (yet keeping
Turkic peoples of USSR at arm’s length…)
National monopolies (tobacco, alcohol, etc.)
National infrastructure (railroad, etc.)
New national organizations (Turkish Historical
Society, Turkish Linguistic Society, etc.) to
promote new national identity & ideology
Turkish Nationalism
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
(1881-1938)
www.ataturk.com
Iconic figure of modern Turkish nationalism
(his ideology known as “Kemalism”)
Contradictions in Turkish
National Identity
Ethnic Diversity in Turkey (ca. 1910)
Ethnic Diversity in Turkey:
Kurds (1)
Ethnic Diversity in Turkey:
Kurds (2)
Who is a Turk?
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Are you only an ethnic Turk?
Cherkes (Circassians) and other Caucasian
minorities; Laz
Arabs
Armenians
Kurds
Kurdish was banned, now it appears on
signs & TRT Shesh
Right to bilingual education?
Controvery over “Armenian Genocide”
Snow: “Armenian Massacre”
Issues in Turkish Religious Identity
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There is a separation of the religious sphere and
the public sphere
The mosques are funded/controlled by the state
Religious officials are employees of the state
Officials at mosques read sermons produced by
the Ministry of Religious Affairs
Faculties of Divinity are located in state-run
universities
Sufi orders are still banned
There is a split between Sunnis and Alevis
How accepted are non-Muslim citizens in Turkey?
Sunni &
Alevi
Regions
in
Turkey
Russian Conquest in the Caucasus
“The 1828 Russian siege of Kars”
(by January Suchodolski).
Treaty of Kars (1921)
Kars, Turkey
Kars Citadel
Armenian civilians fleeing Kars after its
capture by Kâzım Karabekir's forces.
Kars, Turkey
Turkey in the 20th Century
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A successful (?) secular multi-party (1946- )
democracy in the Middle East
NATO ally, with 2nd largest military (Cold War)
Strong (crude?) national project
GAP project for developing SE Anatolia, etc.
Tremendous investment in national infrastructure
(subways, high speed rail, airports, factories,
etc.)
A History of Military Coups
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[1909, Forced abdication of Abdülhamit II]
[1913, CUP coup]
Military coup in 1960 [Adnan Menderes]
Military coup in 1971 [Süleyman Demirel]
Military coup in 1980 [Kenan Evren, new
constitution institutionalizing role of the military]
Post-modern coup d'état in 1997 (and 2007?)
Military now under civilian control
Current wave of trials of 1980 coup figures &
“conspirators”
Efforts to write a new, “demilitarized” constitution
Turks in Germany
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Gastarbeiters ‘guest workers’
Economic opportunities for workers
[mostly from Anatolia!] in Germany
(1960s- )
Leftist activity (1970s)
PKK/Kurdish Workers Party (1970s- )
Several generations, some assimilated
(politicians), some unassimilated (don’t
speak German!)
Koranschulen, etc.
Today leads to conflicts in Germany
Major Issues in the 20th Century
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Armenian “Genocide” (1915)
[Nancy Pelosi, Orhan Pamuk, Article 301, Hrant Dink]
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Turkish national project
Cold War & NATO membership
Invasion of Cyprus (1974)
Reclaiming the Turkic World (1991- )
Moves for acceptance by European Union
Relations with neighbors (USSR, Greece, Syria,
`Iraq, Armenia/Azerbaycan, etc.)
Preserving the secular, Kemalist state (coups,
etc.)
Strong military & police apparatus, clearly latter
requires retraining
Rise of the Adalet ve Kalkinma
Partisi (AKP)
The current Prime Minister is the
former mayor of İstanbul, Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan
His conservative AKP won an
absolute majority of
parliamentary seats in the 2002
general elections, organized in
the aftermath of the economic
crisis of 2001, with 34% of the
suffrage.
In the 2007 general elections, the
AKP received 46.6% of the votes
and could defend its majority in
parliament.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul & his wife
Turkey at the Edge (1)
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Does the rise of AKP (and the collapse of the opposition)
spell the end of the secular Turkish Republic?
AKP is a strong proponent of the EU
Tensions between AKP and the Turkish military, including
recently instituting civilian control over the military.
BUT concern over show trials of military leadership.
High number of jailed journalists.
The notion of the “deep state”
Clean government or mafias?
Does AKP have a mandate to rewrite the Turkish
Constitution?
The debate over lifting the headscarf ban in public
institutions
The struggle to revise Article 301 (insulting the Turkish
state)
The past US role in `Iraq and the plunge in popularity of
the US in Turkey
The Turkish role in `Iraq and the struggle against the PKK
Turkey at the Edge (2)
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Turkey was successful seeking new alliances in the region,
but has suffered setbacks recently
Difficulties in relations with US (including over possible
recognition of Armenian Genocide by US Congress)
National protests over AKP’s supposed attempts to Islamize
the state, but EU protest over “judicial coup attempt” to
close AKP
“Mavi Marmara” incident disrupts close ties with Israel
AKP support for Egypt’s ex-President Morsi and a role for
the Muslim Brotherhood
The protests over Gezi Park has tarnished Turkey’s
reputation
“Kurdish Opening” is hitting a bump
At present Turkey is an advocate of punishing Syria for use
of chemical weapons
Conclusions
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Nearing the end of its 9th decade as a modern secular
republic with a titular Turkish nation, Turkey has had to
become more mature as a state.
There is a nostalgia for the Ottoman past & its civilization.
There was (at least for a while) a sense that Turkey should
enjoy a position of leadership in the Middle East, as the
Ottoman Empire once did.
There is also a sense of leadership in the broader Turkicspeaking world.
There is a sense that Islam should be represented more
prominently in the public sphere (though not everybody
thinks so!).
There is a fear of a “creeping Islamism” in Turkey on the
part of Kemalists.
There is a sense that non-Turkish speaking citizens of
Turkey need to have concessions made to them, but what?
(Bilingual education?)
There is a lingering popular conspiracy theory that the
“Greater Middle East Project” wants to reorder the Middle
East, including breaking up Turkey…
Uli Schamiloglu
uschamil@wisc.edu
Professor
Dept. of Languages and Cultures of Asia
Chair, Central Asian Studies Program
Chair (on leave), Middle East Studies
Program
mideast.wisc.edu