S£Twc£N LIBERAL ETHOS and the M'fth Dr DEMOCRACY
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TH£ STATE AHD iHTElLECTUAL IN TURKS / : S£TWc£N LIBERAL ETHOS AND THE M’fTH Dr DEMOCRACY 4 « W ^ *«* 'C· 4 i W ^ i ;iNT U Hi VERS IT Y * « T i "Vi. .i“ t i - t ‘ fc THE STATE AND INTELLECTUAL IN TURKEY: BETWEEN LIBERAL ETHOS AND THE MYTH OF DEMOCRACY The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by Simten Coşar In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION in THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA Sirvı^âA June 1997 •Al5 СЬ-:|- Ï. ‘Î В 4 0 2 I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. Prof. Dr. Metin Heper (Supervisor) I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. Prof. E^^Hzabeth Ozdalga Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. Prof Dr. Ahmefi: Evin Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. __ /oßfiC C\c.c^ Yrd. Doç Dr. Nur Bilge Criss Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. Yrd. Do^ Dr. Ay§e Kadioglu Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Ali L. Karaosmanoglu Director ABSTRACT This study analyzes the liberal discourse in the Republican Turkey with a view to shedding light on the state-intellectual relationship. The aim is to elaborate the reasons for the lack of an intellectual tradition of liberalism in Turkey, The answer is searched in the historical unfolding of the state-intellectual relationship within a state dominant, ever-modernizing context. The bulk of the study has been shaped by the periodization beginning from the foundation of the Turkish Republic and extending throughout the 1990s. The Ottoman period, especially, the Tanzimat era (1839-1876) has been examined with the aim of providing an historical background. The emergence of a liberal identity in different periods, has been analyzed in relation to the problématique that shaped the intellectual discourse in different periods, namely modernization, democratization, and liberalization. In the study the state-opposition pendulum has been taken as the clue to gain an understanding of the impasse that the Turkish liberal intellectual has experienced. In this respect, it is concluded that the liberal intellectual in Turkey has always had to walk on a tightrope between the premises that fed his intellectual matrix and his self-identification with the state. His quest for liberty and salvation of the individual from m the constraints of the state was inspired by the West. Yet, due to his concern for the state he has had to construct the ideal individual which turned his liberal agenda into a project. IV ÖZET Bu araştırma Cumhuriyet dönemine özgü liberal kimliği devlet-entellektüel ilişkisi çerçevesinde incelemiştir. Çalışma Türkiye’de, liberalizmin bir düşünce geleneği olarak neden oluşamadığı sorusu etrafında şekillenmiştir. Cevap devletin ön planda olduğu, sürekli modernleşen bir bağlamda devlet- entellektüel ilişkisinin tarihsel evrilişinde aranmıştır. Çalışmanın çatısını Cumhuriyet’in kuruluşundan 1990lara kadar uzanan dönem oluşturmaktadır. Tanzimat (1839-1876) döneminden itibaren meydana gelen gelişmeler tarihsel bir arka plan sağlamak amacıyla çalışmaya dahil edilmiştir. Liberal entellektüel kimlik birbirini takip eden dönemlerde entellektüel söyleme şekil veren problematikler etrafında incelenmiştir. Buna bağlı olarak, liberal kimliğin değişik dönemlerdeki farklı görünümleri entellektüelin içselleştirdiği misyona referansla anlaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Sözkonusu misyon(1ar) birbirini dışlamayacak şekilde modernleştirme, demokratikleştirme ve liberalleştirme olarak belirlenmiştir. Çalışmada devlet-muhalefet sarkacı Türk liberal entellektüelinin karşı karşıya kaldığı açmazları anlamak açısından faydalı olmuştur. Türkiye'de liberal entellektüel, entellektüel kimliğini devletin tanımladığı çerçeve içinde bulmuştur. Batı'nın liberal öncüllerinden hareketle oluşturduğu kavramsal şeması ise onu ister istemez muhalif konumuna oturtmuştur. Dönemin önceliklerine göre devlet ve muhalefet arasında gidip gelen sözkonusu entellektüelin son tahlilde vardığı nokta ise liberalizmi projelendirmek olmuştur. VI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the Association for Liberal Thinking for their documentary support for Chapter 6; Mehmet Arif Demirer who was generous in opening his personal library which eased the researching process for Chapters 5 and 6; and Sevgi Korkut at TGNA library who welcomed my arbitrary visits for lacking materials. It is a pleasure to record my thanks to Tanil Bora for his willingness to help me to get access to some of the most crucial materials for, and sharing his views especially about Chapters 4 and 5. I also wish to thank Murat Şentürk and Ahmet Yıldız who acted as my METU and TGNA branches and tolerated my repetitive delays. Another form of support was proferred by T.L.E. who motivated the completion of each and every chapter. A different kind of thanks is due to Nalan Soyarik for sharing the home and being around in times of emergency. Nazim İrem and Aylin Özman were of utmost help by providing me with both their invaluable friendship and scholarly contribution all throughout this thesis. My special thanks are due to Fuat Keyman and Ayşe Kadıoğlu who have read the first draft and offered me theoretical extensions. Finally, and most importantly I would like to thank my supervisor. Metin Heper, whose deep understanding and constructive criticisms made this thesis possible. vu TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.............................................. iii ÖZET...................................................V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................ vi i TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................... viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION............................... 1 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BACKDROP................... 14 2.1 State as the Focus of Analysis...............14 2.2 The State and the Intellectual: The Interface between Institutions and Concepts................27 2.2.1 Some Conceptual Clarifications on the Category of the Intellectual................28 2.3 State Tradition and Liberal Thought: Towards a Tentative Matrix....................... 38 2.3.1 Renaissance and Reformation: 'Man’ as the Focus............ ................... 40 2.3.2 Liberal Thought in the English Context: The Cradle of a Tradition.........42 2.3.2.1 Man, Society and the State: Hobbesian Scheme as the Precedent?.... 42 2.3.2.2 Liberal Thought in a "Stateless" Society................... 46 2.3.3 Liberal Thought Outdoors: The Continental European Experience............ 52 2.3.3.1 Germany: "State Liberalism"....52 2.3.3.2 France: Liberalism between the Individual and Citizen................ 59 2.4 Concluding Remarks.......................... 68 CHAPTER III: STATE TRADITION AND THE EVOLUTION OF INTELLECTUAL MIND AND IDENTITY IN THE OTTOMAN CONTEXT.......................................... 71 VIU 3.1 The State and Society in the Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire............................ 71 3.2 "Institutional Intellectual": From Advisor to Ruler......................................... 82 3.2.1 The Ottoman Intellectual of "Advise Literature"................................. 83 3.2.2 A New Identity For the Ottoman Intellectual: Between Tradition and Modernity................................... 90 3.3 The New Role of the Intellectual in the Policy Making Process: The Case of Tanzimat..... 92 3.3.1 Intellectuals of Opposition: Press as the New Circle........................... 102 3.3.2 The Young Ottomans and Freedom in Tradition................................... 105 3.4 The Ottoman Intellectual at the Crossroads: The Emergence of the Platform of Liberal Intellectual..................................... 109 3.4.1 Liberalism in its Economic Facet..... 109 3.4.2 Prens Sabahaddin: Portrait of a Liberal Intellectual........................ 113 3.5 Concluding Remarks........................... 118 CHAPTER IV: THE STATE AND INTELLECTUAL OF THE REPUBLIC: CONTINUITY WITHIN CHANGE...............125 4.1 Early Republican Era: Institutionalization and Nation Building as the Twin Processes of Break with the Past.............................. 125 4.1.1 Continuity within Change: A New Identity for the State with the Old Mission of Modernization............................ 126 4.1.2 The Double Identity of the early Republican Intellectual: Legislator and Transmitter................................. 131 4.2 Liberal Identity within the Context of the Attempts at the Construction of Opposition...... 138 IX 4.2.1 State and Opposition in the early Republican Era.............................. 141 4.2.2 Emergence of the Liberal Opposition...147 4.2.2.1 Liberal Identity in the Form of Tutelary Opposition.................150