And the Originof Thejapaneseimage Inturkishintellectuals
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JapanJapanAssociation Association forforMiddle Middle EastStudiesEast Studies ' rs5=I!'IT;=T= peciallssue ' Japan and the Middle East before Wo Sirat-i Mtistakim (later, SebtMrresad) and the Origin of the Japanese Image in Turkish Intellectuals , AbdullahGtindogdu I lntroduction I. Sirat-t MUstakim and SebrvUrresad Magazlnes and Japan M. AbdUrresid lbrahim and Japan ]Y. Ahmed MUnir and his Letters from Japan V. Conclusion 1. Introduction It is well known that there is a remarkable sympathy toward Japan and the Japanese in Turkey. I remember a questionnaire survey published in one of the popular "Which Turkish newspapers, Hab'rrlyet, a few years ago. One question was, foreign nation do Turkish people love?," and the Japanese people were at the top of t.he answer list., polling about 90% of all votes. After the Japanese people came the Azerbaij an people. We may suggest that this sympathy to the Japanese people is a remarkable phenomenon, and I would like to explain the origin of this matter, using basic source materials. IVhen we trace it back to the Ottornan publication, we encounter two names, Abdtirreeid Ibrahim and his son Ahmed Mtinir. They wrote many articles aboutJapan in Szrat-z Mdr'stahim, and in its successor Sebflab'rresad, to inform the Turkish intellectuals aboutJapan at the 245 Strat-i iL,fastakim (later, SebflU rreead) and the Origin of the Japanese lmage (GUndogdu) NII-Electronic Library Service JapanJapanAssociation Association for Middle East Studies beginning ef the 20th century, The purpose uf this paper is to evaluate their contribution te the birth of this Japanese image in histerical perspective. This topic has a close relationship with the history of Muslims in both Russia and Turkey. The t905 Revolution is a milestone in the history of enlightenment oi Muslims in Russia. It is known that the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War affected the revolu- tion, which resultecl in the promulgation of constitutional monarchy in Ru$sia and also entailed a frec atmosphere for Muslims in Russia [Kurat 1999: 369]. The absolute vic- tor}i of Japan, a country of Asia, over Tsarist Russia, a country that was considered European, gave them some inspiration. They thought that. Japan was an ideal model (and later they brought this inspiration te the Republic of Turkey) . The modernization ofJapan also attracted the interests of the people of the Ottoman Empire, which had already expe- rienced a long and painful modernization process, These concerns left a remarkable fea- 'furkish ture on the Japanese image, which was going to be shared by the intellectuals, Among the Turkish intellectuals were two groups, the Turkists and the Pan-Islamists, who inspired the Japanese images. The leaders of the Tu rkists were Yusuf Akgura and Ahmed Ailaoglu, and the leader of the Pan-Islamists was Abdtirre$id Ibrahim; all of them migrated from Russia to Turkey. Sirat-z Mab'stakim, being published in Istanbul welcomed them, regardless of their political positions. 11. Sirat- nadistakim and Sebfidirrefiad Magazines and Japan Szrat-z Mtistahim magazine was first published by Ebulula Zeynelabidin and Esref Edip on August 1 4th, 1908. During the period of the Second Constitutional Monarchy, Mehmed Akif, a famous Turkish writer at the time, took the position of editorial writer for this magazine. Published weekly, the magazine handlecl various topies, including religious, national, literary, and political matters. It was issued under the above name until its 182nd issue, published in 1912. These first issues were collected in seven volumes. After the 183rd issue, ptiblished on March 8, 1912, the magazine changed its name to Sebilztrre"ad. Due to occupation of Istanbul by the allied powers on March 16th, 1920, the magazine had to move its ofuce to Kastamonu, where it published three issues. Then the magazine moved to Ankara, and began to publish on January 13, 1921. Soon they moved to Kayseri, and published here in October 1921. After the Sakarya Victory on 13rd September 1921, the magazine could return to its office in Ankara, and at last could return to Istanbul in May 1923. Although it could come back te Istanbul, Sebilurresad did not publish for 22 years after the 641 st issue, which was published on AJAMES no.23-2 ZO07 246 r NII-Electronic Library Service JapanJapanAssociation Association forforMiddle Middle East Studies March 5, 1925. These second series issues were collected as twenty-five volumes. After 22 years, the magazine was published in modern Turkish under the name Sebtlde'rresad in May 1948, and 359 issues were published, up to March 1965, These issues were col- lected in 15 volumes [Ceylan 1991: vii-x]. In considering the relation between Szrat-z Miistakim (later, Sebilck'rresad) and the image ofJapan, we must first review the history of thought (especially Turkism and Pan-Islainism) in the Ottoman Empire of the modern era. As is well known, the Pan-Islamic idea was introduced by Jamal al-Din al- Afghani, in the couse ofhis search for Islamic reiorm, In Egypt, his idea was inherited `Abduh, `Abduh's by his student, Muhammad and by successor, Rashid RidA. In Turkey, the idea was introduced by Musa Carullah (Bigiyev), one of the Muslims from Russia, and was welcomed by Turkists as the basis for an understanding of the Islamic crisis. In ]908, immediately after the Young Turk Revolution, Strat-t Mdr'staleim was founded as a publishing house for Islamists, though it also welcomed writers who did not share their Pan-Islamic ideas. It was edited by Mehmed Akif, who sought to revive Islamic thought and support liberalism. The magazine supported the new monar- chy of the Ottoman Empire, and adopted a definite position on the 1909 reactionist upheaval of March 31st (ApriH3th in the Gregorian calendar) . During that period, the magazine seemed to be considerably affected by an Arabic retormism movement rep- `Abduh. resented by al-Afghani and Muhammad A lot ot articles by Muhammad `Abduh, "the whom Mehmed Akif called greatest ustad o"he East," were translated into Ottoman Turkish and published in Szrat-z Mtz'stakim. At t.he same time, Szrat-z Mzljstakim was regularly published between 1909 and 191l with contributions by Ahmed Agaoglu, Yusuf Akgura and Abdtirreeid Ibrahim, In this way, Strcxt-t Mdistakim connected its readers with the Turkish intellectuals who came frem Russia. Many Turkish intellectuals whe emigrated from Russia participated in the publishing business in Istanbul. The most famous of these were Agaoglu, Akgura, Ayaz Ishaki, Ismail Gaspirak, and Abdttrresid Ibrahim. Thus, the magazine became the coordinating point of the Central Asian .ladidism and Arabic reformism at the beginning of the 20th Century. Jamal al-Dfn al-Afghani differed from other Pan-Islamists in that he thought Islamic nations musl/ have their own nationalizatien, and the cultural grewth was its preliminary condition, In this way, he encouraged Turkish nationalism in the cul- tural domain. When the Turkish Association was founded in 1908, the magazine almost becarne its publishing center. In other words, Turkish intelleetual life praised the free atomosphere, and thus we can read many articles in the magazine about the con- dition of Muslims in Russia, Tsarist Russian censorship was trying, therefore, to pre- 247 Strat-i h4Ustakim (later, Sebi"I" rresad) and the Origin of the Japanese lmage (GUndogdu) NII-Electronic Library Service JapanJapanAssociation Association for Middle East Studies vent the domestic inflow of this magazine. Toward the end of the year 1911, however, when the war in Tripoli against Italy was going on, some people related to Strat-z Mdr'stahtlm began to believe that Turkish Nationalism would bring dangerous results te the Ottoman Empire. Others noticed that Turkish Nationalism in Strat-t Ma'stakim gradually tended towarcls Pan-Islamism and slowly abandoned its progressiveness. For this reason, Akvura and Agaoglu, who were deveted to Turkism orTurkish Nationalism, decided to end their activities in the magazine, aiming to establish a new magazine that could defend their thought, T}iat mag- azine would be 71ijrle Ytzrdu (Tharkish Hbmeland) [Geogeon 1999: 65-8]. In this sense, the fact that Szrat-z Mdr'stakim was changed into Seblldr'rresad somehow corresponds to an Islamist structure inore singular in content, quitting its pluraiist strueture. The concerns for Japan and Japanese people were also brought by Muslim intellectuals from Russia. Sirat-i Mustakim and Sebildr'rresad seemed to gratefully welcome any kind of news, comments, or articies aboutJapan. Though this included numerous articles concerning Japan written by authors other than Abdifrresid ferahim and his son Ahmed Mifnir, a considerable number (including some anonymous articles) were written by them.(i) The articles aboutJapan increased remarkably during the first period of the Strat-t Mth'stakim and thus played an important role in developing a pos- itive Japanese image in Tarkey. most striking articles It is that these said Japan could in various aspects be a good model, compared to Western civilization, for the Muslim society. For example, "Since Terviskili Ahmecl Taceddin stated that theJapanese have been able to set a good example for everything in the 20th century, they should also be an example for us regard- ing that question." Moreover, since the Japanese did not change their old religion and "Zoroastrianismm," national customs, they kept their national life (described as by mis- take) ; it was therefore believed that they should set up an example for Muslims in Russia to in some way keep their Islamic traditions against the threat of being Russian.(2) We can admit that there were cofnments and opinions that the immediate devel- opments made by Japan through modernization could be an examplc for the Islamic world, particularly Muslims in Russia. There were also other interests that caused a sympa- thy with Japan.