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News Discourse and Narratives of the Past and Present The London School of Economics and Political Science Reframing the Armenian Question in Turkey: News Discourse and Narratives of the Past and Present Bengi Bezirgan A thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, September 2015 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 86,370 words. I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by James Pavitt. 2 Abstract The problematical notion of the ‘Armenian question’ has become a political and linguistic tool for the official genocide denial ever since the foundation of the Turkish Republic, and has come to stand for the controversy that exists around the denial and recognition of the Armenian Genocide at both national and international levels. This research explores how the ‘Armenian question’ in Turkey opens up a discursive space in which various forms of Turkish nationalism are constructed and reproduced, and addresses multifaceted narratives from members of the Armenian community. By employing this term I aim to challenge the attempt to decontextualize collective acts of violence against Armenians, restricting them to the period of the Ottoman Empire, and indicate how this issue goes far beyond the politics of genocide. The objective of my research is to point out particular production and consumption phases of the Armenian question in Turkey. The production side focuses on three national newspapers in order to unveil overlapping and divergent discursive strategies in their coverage of three recent incidents, namely the assassination of Hrant Dink, the murder of Sevag Balıkçı, and the public protest against the Khojaly Massacre. In contrast, the consumption side embraces the perceptions and experiences of particular members of the Armenian community in Istanbul with respect to past and present occurrences. This research thus uncovers consistencies and contradictions between news discourse and the responses of the Armenian interviewees concerning three particular events and sheds light on the asymmetrical production and consumption patterns of the Armenian question in Turkey. Drawing on data from both a critical discourse analysis of three cases in three Turkish national newspapers and forty-five semi-structured interviews with Armenians, this qualitative study seeks to contribute to the growing body of research on the Armenian question and Turkish nationalism. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis was written in three different cities (London, Istanbul and Bodrum) in two different countries (United Kingdom and Turkey) during the period of four years (2011- 2015). This PhD accordingly would not have been possible without the support and inspiration of a number of people. First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Mike Savage for his academic and personal contributions and guidance throughout this long and exhaustive journey. He has been always an excellent role model for me to follow in my prospective academic career. I also owe thanks to Professor Chetan Bhatt and Dr James Kennedy for their valuable comments and encouraging attitude towards my research. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all my initial contacts who enabled me to do fieldwork as an ‘outsider’ and all my interviewees who agreed to be a part of this research for sharing their thoughts and experiences about this taboo subject in Turkey. Without their courage and participation this thesis would not be what it is now and I will always remember and appreciate their trust in me. I am very indebted to my parents, Süheyla and Ali Erkan Bezirgan, for their unconditional love and support in every attempt I have intended to achieve in my life. This research is also the outcome of their extraordinary patience and assistance that I fall short of words to describe their attentiveness. I wish to extend my heart-felt gratitude and appreciation to a group of wonderful friends. Special thanks go to Melis Elçi, Semihan Başöz, Ayşecan Ay, Neşe Karahasan, Burcu Şentürk, Noyan Ayturan, İrem Dilaver, Bilge Akdur, Doruk Kemal Kaplan, Yelta Köm, Sibel Karadağ, İdil Ünal, Derya Çakım, Onur Işıklı, Onursal Önen, Erman Özgür. They have been always ‘there’ to help me to survive in this academic struggle. Finally I reserve my warmest and affectionate gratitude for my life partner, Koray Günyaşar who never gives up believing in me even when I lose faith in myself. His boundless optimism, inspiration and intellectual insight continually motivate me to accomplish my goals and make me feel at ‘home’. I doubt that I will ever be able to explain my feelings for him but I would like to dedicate this thesis to him, for all of his love and companionship. 4 Table of Contents Declaration 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Table of Contents 5 1. Introduction 7 1.1. Aims of the Study 9 1.2. Research Questions and Research Design 12 1.3. Previous Studies 14 1.4. Outline of the Chapters 19 2. The Contextualisation of the Armenian Question 22 2.1. Massacres of the Armenians during the Ottoman Empire 23 2.2. The Turkish Nation-State Building Process 28 2.3. The Incident of Reserves, Wealth Tax and the 6-7 September Riots 32 2.4. The Military Coups and the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia 34 2.5. The AKP Government Period 36 3. The Theoretical Framework: The Intersections of Nationalism, Discourse and Memory 40 3.1. A Re-examination of the Typologies of Nationalism 41 3.2. The Discursive and Quotidian Aspects of Nationalism 47 3.3. The Interplay between Nationalism and Media Representations 54 3.4. The Portrayals of the Minority Groups in the National Newspapers 59 3.5. (Collective) Memory, National Myths and Historiography 63 3.6. (Trans)National Remembrance and Forgetting 67 4. Methodology 73 4.1. Methodological Considerations about the Research Methods 73 4.2. Data Collection Methods 74 4.3. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) 76 4.3.1. Discursive Tools 83 4.3.2. The Selection of the Newspapers 86 4.3.3. The News Stories: the Time Frame and the Access 89 4.4. Semi-Structured Interviews 90 4.4.1. Interview Techniques in a Qualitative Research 90 4.4.2. Semi-Structured Interviews with Armenians 93 4.4.3. Interview Topic Guide 97 4.4.4. Sampling Design and Gaining Access for Interviews 98 4.4.5. The Reflections on My Researcher Position and Contextual Factors 100 5 5. The Case of the Assassination of Hrant Dink (19 th January 2007) 106 5.1. Critical Discourse Analysis of the Hrant Dink Case 110 5.1.1. The Figure of Enemy as a National Threat 111 5.1.2. In Between the National Identity and the International Image 114 5.1.3. ‘We are all Hrant, we are all Armenians’ 120 5.2. The ‘Unexpected’ Consequences of an ‘Expected’ End: Hrant Dink 123 5.3. Conclusion 134 6. The Case of the Murder of Sevag Balıkçı (24 th April 2011) 136 6.1. Critical Discourse Analysis of the Sevag Balıkçı Case 140 6.1.1. The Reference to Ethnic Descent 140 6.1.2. The Issue of Martyrdom 143 6.1.3. Sacrifice for the Nation 147 6.2. More than an Accident: The Death of Sevag Balıkçı 150 6.3. Conclusion 158 7. The Protest against the Khojaly Massacre (26 th February 2012) 160 7.1. Critical Discourse Analysis of the Protest against the Khojaly Massacre 162 7.1.1. ‘Do not remain silent against the Armenian lies’ 163 7.1.2. Language of Homogenisation 165 7.1.3. ‘Our’ vs. ‘Their’ Nationalism 166 7.1.4. The Creation of a Collective Narrative 169 7.2. The Comparison between the Massacres 170 7.3. Conclusion 176 8. Analysis of the Interviews 178 8.1. The Sediments of the Past 178 8.2. The Armenian Issue vs. the Armenian Genocide 186 8.3. The Discourses of Nationalism and National Identity 192 8.4. The Official Ideology of the Turkish State 202 8.5. Under the Rule of the AKP Government 208 8.6. Conclusion 213 9. Conclusion 215 9.1. Empirical Findings 216 9.2. Theoretical Implications 223 9.3. Discussion 225 9.4. The Research Limitations 229 9.5. Concluding Remarks 230 Appendices 232 References 236 6 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The co-existence of practices between different identities and an imposed national identity are important indicators for a nation state’s problematic treatment of minority groups within its physical and mental borders. Past atrocities, particularly those committed for the sake of national unity/security and identity, reveal how the ideological agendas of a nation state play roles in the acts of violence committed against distinct ethnic and religious communities. In this respect, nation-building processes in post-conflict and post-colonial settings develop their own strategies of dealing with divergent groups and their peculiarities. The formation of the nation state in the Turkish Republic which, among many other states, became the successor state of the multicultural and multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire, also resulted in conflict-ridden relations with minority groups.
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