From Kemal to Erdoğan
26.02.2024 13:08
Under Kemal, the nation unites individuals not around religious or communal identities, but through the institutions of the Turkish nation-state.
What today’s Turkey is and how it emerged as a continuation of the Ottoman Empire is not well known, even though daily news reports often reference it, often in emotionally charged ways. Although the literature surrounding Turkey is rich in specialized topics, I believe that for the first time, the history of Turkey, which last year marked 100 years of existence since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, is being offered to a broader readership.
The relevant initiative was taken by Ms. Anna Karamanou, an intellectual of the feminist movement, who distinguished herself particularly as a Member of the European Parliament, with her recently published new book titled “100 Years of Turkey, 1923-2023.” With accessible writing and rich documentation, the author condenses the hundred-year history of the Turkish Republic, which emerged from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, thanks to the military genius and political ingenuity of its founder, Mustafa Kemal.
As the first president of the Turkish Republic, inspired by Western European models, Kemal identified modernization with Europeanization, which, along with the secularization of the state and nationalism, constituted the main pillars of Kemalism, the doctrine upon which modern Turkey was built.
Under Kemal, the nation unites individuals not around religious or communal identities, but through the institutions of the Turkish nation-state. The nation-state became the reference point, rather than religion. However, it is important to note that the marginalization of Islam has never been accepted by the majority of the people.
The author particularly emphasizes that Turkey under Kemal was the first Muslim country to recognize political, legal, and social rights for women and highlights the fluctuations of these rights throughout the hundred-year evolution of the Turkish state.
Ms. Karamanou’s work provides an objective account of the six-century dominance of the Ottoman Empire, its collapse at the end of World War I, and the establishment of the secular Turkish state by Kemal.
The various phases in the evolution of the Turkish state are also summarized, highlighting fluctuations in the influence of Islam, the military dictatorship of General Evren, the execution of Menderes, and the coup against the current president, Erdoğan.
Particular emphasis is placed on the fluctuations in the influence of Islam, which, given the current context, has recovered to a degree that justifies President Erdoğan’s vision for a revival of the Islamic Empire, at least in terms of influence.
The new work by Ms. Karamanu serves as the most concise, accessible, calm, and well-documented history of Turkey, thanks to its rich bibliography, for every Greek citizen interested in understanding it as a Western-oriented state, which experiences fluctuations in the decisive influence of Islam and the political ambitions under Erdoğan, who does not miss an opportunity to declare his aspirations to expand Turkey’s borders as much as possible to the limits of the Ottoman Empire.