A Critical Analysis of Turkish Left's Interpretation
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A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF TURKISH LEFT‘S INTERPRETATION OF THE WORLD ORDER AND TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY CAN BERK IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OCTOBER 2018 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Faruk Yalvaç Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı Co-Supervisor Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Ramazan Gözen (Marmara Uni., PSIR) Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı (METU, IR) Prof. Dr. Ebru Boyar (METU, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuba Ünlü Bilgiç (METU, IR) Dr. Mehmet Gürsan Şenalp (Atılım Uni., İKT) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Can BERK Signature : iii ABSTRACT A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF TURKISH LEFT‘S INTERPRETATION OF THE WORLD ORDER AND TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY Berk, Can Ph.D., Department of International Relations Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı Co-Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Faruk Yalvaç October 2018, 436 pages This thesis offers a critical analysis of how Turkey‘s socialist movement interpreted ―the post-war world order and paradigm shifts in the foreign policy of Turkey‖ between 1945 and 1980 by mainly basing on ―primary sources‖. The thesis also explores the relationships between socialist groups‘ theoretical frameworks and IR theories and the meta-theoretical bases of their theoretical frameworks. The main argument is that Turkish leftists‘ analyses were dominated for the most part by realist assumptions and tended towards a positivist ontology and epistemology. The thesis reaches the conclusion that the leftist groups under analysis employed realist assumptions to account for the explanandum mainly because of Marxism‘s inability to advance a theoretical framework for analysis of international relations and foreign policy. It was seen that despite offering some insight into Turkish foreign policy analysis, the prevailing realist assumptions embedded in their analytical frameworks resulted in the production of a state-centric nationalist stance which stood in complete opposition to their historical materialist position. This is evident from their use of the well-known realist terms without subjecting them to critical consideration. As a reflection of a ―realist moment‖ in their theoretical framework, their meta- theoretical stance bears the stamp of positivist ontology and epistemology. Keywords: Turkish left, Socialist movement, Foreign policy, World order, Student militancy. iv ÖZ TÜRKİYE SOLUNUN TÜRK DIŞ POLİTİKASI VE DÜNYA DÜZENİNİ YORUMLAMASININ ELEŞTİREL BİR ANALİZİ Berk, Can Doktora, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı Ortak Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Faruk Yalvaç Ekim 2018, 436 sayfa Bu tez, Türkiye sosyalist hareketinin İkinci Dünya Savaşı sonrasında oluşan yeni dünya düzeni ve Türk dış politikasındaki paradigma değişimlerine ilişkin yorumlarının ―birincil kaynakları‖ esas alan eleştirel bir analizini sunar. Bu tez, ayrıca, sosyalist gruplarca benimsenen kuramsal çerçeveler ile Uluslararası İlişkiler teorileri arasındaki ilişkiyi, onların kuramsal çerçevelerinin meta-teoretik temelini araştırır. Tezin temel savı Türk solunun analizlerine çoğu kez gerçekçi (realist) varsayımların hâkim olduğu ve bu analizlerde bir pozitivist eğilim bulunduğu şeklindedir. Tez şunu sonuca ulaşmıştır ki Marksizmin uluslararası ilişkiler ve dış politika analizi için bir kuramsal çerçeve geliştirmedeki yetersizliği nedeniyle bu çalışmada incelenen sol gruplar araştırma konusunu açıklarken gerçekçi (realist) varsayımlara başvurmuştur. Türk dış politikasının analizine birtakım anlayış sunmakla beraber analitik çerçevelerinde saklı hâkim gerçekçi (realist) varsayımlar kendi tarihsel materyalist duruşlarıyla tamamen zıt bir şekilde devlet merkezci milliyetçi bir tutumun üretimi ile sonuçlanmıştır. Gerçekçi (realist) terimleri eleştirel bir değerlendirmeye tabi tutmaksızın kullanmaları bu durumun kanıtıdır. Kuramsal çerçevelerinde bulunan ―gerçekçi (realist) uğrak‖ın bir yansıması olarak bunların meta-teoretik tutumları pozitivist ontoloji ve epistemolojinin izini taşır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Türk solu, Sosyalist hareket, Dış politika, Dünya düzeni, Öğrenci hareketi v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to several people for their support in making the writing of this dissertation possible. First of all, I would like to thank Professor Emil Kirchner, the supervisor of my MA dissertation at Essex University, for urging me to do my PhD. Secondly, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Professor Dr Hüseyin Bağcı for encouraging me and supervising my thesis; I also owe much to him for my intellectual development. Thirdly, I am very lucky to have met Professor Dr Faruk Yalvaç, who introduced me to the Marxist studies pertaining to IR. Inspired by his works, I shifted the focus of my research interest to Marxism, which I greatly enjoyed working on. I am very grateful to him as he accepted to be my co-supervisor, and as without his support, criticism, and constructive feedback, this thesis would not have come into being. Last but not least, I would like to thank the members of my thesis monitoring committee, Professor Dr Ramazan Gözen and Assistant Professor Tuba Ünlü Bilgiç, for their insightful comments and advice during our meetings. Equally, I would especially like to thank my jury members, Professor Dr. Ramazan Gözen, Professor Dr. Ebru Boyar and Dr. M. Gürsan Şenalp, for their critical and constructive remarks and suggestions, which were invaluable in bringing this thesis to completion. During the course of my PhD studies I benefitted very much from the support of my many close and dear friends. I would like to thank Osman Düzel for reading and commenting on the early drafts of my chapters. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Andrew Monaghan, a true English gentleman, for his valuable advice, encouragement and support. I also owe much to Yüksel Yılmaz for his financial and emotional support. I am grateful to Bilal Yıldız for his encouragement and assistance in formatting my thesis, and I would like to thank Hakan Demirci for his constant encouragement. I am also grateful to Sinan Öztürk, from the National Library, and Erden Akbulut, from TÜSTAV, who made it possible for me to access rare primary sources that I otherwise would not have been able to locate. In addition, I owe a debt of gratitude to Andrew Imlach for his patience in proofreading this thesis. vi Lastly, I would like to offer my special thanks to my girlfriend Ebru, who was so patient with my longstanding PhD studies and always supported me. I am grateful to my elder sister Gül and my nieces Ebru, Serpil, Selin and Sezin for the delicious breakfasts at weekends and for their help in housekeeping and ironing. Although my dear parents advised me to drop my PhD studies so I could get married and have kids, I persevered and was able to complete my dissertation. All the same, they stood by my decisions and supported me fully. I cannot thank them enough for their unwavering love and support, and also for the contributions they have made to my life. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM……………………………………………………………………….iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1.INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 2.HISTORICAL MATERIALIST APPROACHES TO IR ....................................... 14 2.1. Classical Marxism ............................................................................................... 14 2.2. Classical Theories of Imperialism ....................................................................... 16 2.2. The Second Generation Theories of Imperialism ............................................... 22 2.1.1. The Dependency School ............................................................................... 23 2.1.2. The World System Perspective .................................................................... 36 3.THE TURKISH LEFTIST MOVEMENT IN THE POST-SECOND-WORLD- WAR ERA (1945-1960) ............................................................................................. 39 3.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 39 3.1.1. The Era of the Second World War ..............................................................