UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title "Sabiha Gök̨cen's 80-year-old secret" : Kemalist nation formation and the Ottoman Armenians Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2mh3z3k6 Author Ulgen, Fatma Publication Date 2010 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO ―Sabiha Gökçen‘s 80-Year-Old Secret‖: Kemalist Nation Formation and the Ottoman Armenians A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Communication by Fatma Ulgen Committee in charge: Professor Robert Horwitz, Chair Professor Ivan Evans Professor Gary Fields Professor Daniel Hallin Professor Hasan Kayalı Copyright Fatma Ulgen, 2010 All rights reserved. The dissertation of Fatma Ulgen is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2010 iii DEDICATION For my mother and father, without whom there would be no life, no love, no light, and for Hrant Dink (15 September 1954 - 19 January 2007 iv EPIGRAPH ―In the summertime, we would go on the roof…Sit there and look at the stars…You could reach the stars there…Over here, you can‘t.‖ Haydanus Peterson, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, reminiscing about the old country [Moush, Turkey] in Fresno, California 72 years later. Courtesy of the Zoryan Institute Oral History Archive v TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……………………………………………………………..... iii Dedication………………………………………………………………....... iv Epigraph……………………………………………………………………. .. v Table of Contents……………………………………………………………. vi Table of Visuals……………………………………………………………… x Acknowledgements………………………………………………………..... xii Vita………………………………………………………………………….. xv Abstract of the Dissertation………………………………………………….. xvi Introduction………………………………………………………………… .. 1 PART I: The Armenian fault zone of Turkishness and the ―trembling wobbling motion of‖ being a Turk in the Age of Human Rights Chapter 1: The Crystal Palace of Turkishness 1.1. Introduction…………………………………………………....... 54 1.2. Theories of Nation-Formation…………………………………... 75 1.3. The Phoenix is Armenian……………………………………….. 90 1.4. History of ―Turkishness‖……………………………………........ 98 1.5. Conclusion………………………………………………….......... 105 Chapter 2: Sprits denigrating Turkishness: ―Sabiha‘s Gökçen‘s 80-year old secret‖ 2.1. Introduction…………………………………………………....... 109 2.2. Sabiha Gökçen: ―Atatürk‘s Most Successful Project Child‖……. 112 2.3. Reactions in the Turkish Press (1): ―Discuss but don‘t Scratch‖………………………………………. 119 2.4. Dink on the Armenian Identity…………………………………. 125 2.5. Reactions in the Turkish Press (2): A Mediated operation of ―cleaning the blood vessel‖………………………………………. 127 2.6. Nusaybin 2007: A mass grave full of suspicious skulls and skeletons denigrating Turkishness vi 2.6.1. One Rainy Investigation……………………………………… 137 2.6.2. Halaçoğlu announces the lab results of the Nusaybin grave.. 145 2.7. Conclusion……………………………………………………..... 151 PART II: ―The land of the nation is sacred; it can‘t be left to its fate‖: The Vectors of Saving the State From Empire to Republic Chapter 3: The Making of a National Bourgeoisie 3.1. Introduction…………………………………………………..... 154 3.2. The Empire: An Overview………………………………………. 158 3.3. Economic Pressures in the Periphery………………………......... 165 3.4. The Rise of the Young Turks and Administrative Change……… 176 Chapter 4: Making Anatolia as the Turkish Homeland from time immemorial 4.1. The Myth of Purity……………………………………………..... 192 4.2. Refugee Influx and Demographic Change………………………. 197 4.3. Turkification of Anatolia and the Changing fate of the Ottoman Armenians 4.3.1. Armenians: Who Were They?............................................... 204 4.3.2. The Near-History of the Armenian Deportations………..... 207 4.3.3. Deportations………………………………………………. 215 4.3.4. The ―Abandoned Property‖ of Armenians………………… 245 4.4. Conclusion……………………………………………………….. 255 PART III: Charismatic Authority, Nationalist Inventions, and Institutions: Ottoman Armenians in the new Republican History Chapter 5: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on the Armenian Issue and 1915 5.1. Introduction……………………………………………………… 260 5.2. Mustafa Kemal: As Charisma and As Institution……………….. 264 5.3. Mustafa Kemal on the Armenian Issue (1919-1938)………….. .. 266 5.3.1. 24 April 1920 Speech in the Parliament…………………… 276 5.3.2. Letter of Protest to Chicherin……………………………… 279 5.3.3. A talk with Ankara Notables………………………………. 281 5.3.4. Interview with the Philadelphia Public Ledger……………. 283 5.4. The Armenian Issue and 1915 in Nutuk vii 5.4.1. Introduction to Nutuk ………………………………………. 284 5.4.2. Ottoman Armenians in Nutuk…………………………........ 290 5.5. Atatürk‘s Position and the Contemporary Denial……………...... 299 5.6.Conclusion……………………………………………………….. 301 Chapter 6: Ottoman Armenians in the first History Textbooks of the Republic: History I-II-III-IV 6.1. Introduction……………………………………………………. … 309 6.2. Theory……………………………………………………………. 310 6.3. Institutional Background: The Turkish case……………………… 314 6.4. Outlines of Turkish History (1930) ………………………………. 317 6.5. History I-II-II-IV (1931-1941): The Production of Armenians as a superfluous people in Turkish national narrations 6.5.1. History II & Legacies: The Armenians and Anatolia………. 333 6.5.2. History III & Legacies: Demise of the Empire and the Armenians………………………………………....... 338 6.5.3. History IV and its Legacies 6.5.3.1. Significance as a Textbook…………………………… 342 6.5.3.2. Armenians and the The Southern Front…………… … 348 6.5.3.3. Cilicia (Çukurova): The Delta of Cotton Dreams -1 ……………………… 352 6.5.3.4. The Armenians and the War of Independence…….. … 355 6.6. Conclusion……………………………………………………….. 362 6.7. Who wrote the narratives on Armenians in the History volumes?………………………………………………………….. 364 6.7.1. Esat Uras (Amasya 1882 -Ankara 1957)………………… 367 6.7.2. The Origins of Armenians as a Superfluous People in Turkish National Narrations………………………....... 369 Chapter 7: More Erasures, Further Ideological Repositioning, and Forgetting: Ottoman Armenians in the History Textbooks written between 1942-1980s 7.1. 1942-1950: History I-II-III Revisited by Mansel-Karal-Baysun and the centralization of the myth of the Manzikiert 7.1.1. Historical Context ………………………………………… 377 7.1.2. Centralization of the Myth of the Manzikiert viii and Armenians ……………………………………………. 378 7.2.History of the Turkish Republic (1944): History IV Revised by Enver Ziya Karal 7.2.1. Enver Ziya Karal and Armenian Question (1878-1923)…… 385 7.2.2. Karal‘s History IV (1944): Nutuk‘s account of the Armenian Deportations Removed …………………………………….. 400 7.2.3. Karal‘s History IV (1944): Narrative on the War against the Armenians in the East and the rhetoric of ―systematic killing‖………………………………………….. 402 7.3.History IV Revised (1953 Edition): Post-WW2 Era and Changes…. 408 7.3.1. Conjuctural Developments in the post-WW2 era 7.3.1.1. International Political Developments…………………. 408 7.3.1.2. Cilicia (Çukurova): The Delta of Cotton Dreams – 2 412 7.3.1.3. Transition to Democracy and the rise of the Democratic Party ……………………………………. 413 7.3.2.The Narrative on Erzurum Congress and Territorial arguments………………………………………………….. 415 7.3.3.The Narrative on the Southern Front and the allusions to ―Abandoned Property‖ ……………………………………. 416 7.4.History I-II-III by Niyazi Akşit and Emin Oktay (1950-1980s): Consolidation of the narrative Turkification of Anatolia and Armenians ………………………………………………………. 420 7.5.Conclusion…………………………………………………………… 426 Chapter 8: Atatürk, the Committee of Union and Progress, and the Memory of 1915 8.1.Introduction…………………………………………………………. 429 8.2.History III & IV(1931)………………………………………………. 434 8.3.Mansel et al. - History III (1942- late 40s)………………………….. 441 8.4.Karal‘s History of the Turkish Republic (1944-1980)………………. 442 8.5.Conclusion…………………………………………………………… 446 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………. 453 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………… 468 ix LIST OF VISUALS Figure 1.1: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen ………………………………………... 56 Figure 1.2: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen………………………………………… 56 Figure 1.3: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen………………………………………… 57 Figure 1.4: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen………………………………………… 57 Figure 1.5: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen………………………………………… 58 Figure 1.6: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen………………………………………… 59 Figure 1.7: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen………………………………………… 60 Figure 1.8: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen………………………………………… 60 Figure 1.9: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen………………………………………… 61 Figure 1.10: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen……………………………………….. 61 Figure 1.11: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen……………………………………….. 62 Figure 1.12: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen……………………………………….. 62 Figure 1.13: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen……………………………………….. 63 Figure 1.14: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen……………………………………….. 63 Figure 1.15: Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen……………………………………….. 64 Figure 1.16: Ogun Samast at the Samsun Gendarmerie Station………………… 73 Figure 1.17: Ogun Samast at the Samsun Gendarmerie Station………………… 74 Figure 1.18: Ogun Samast at the Samsun Gendarmerie Station………………… 74 Figure 1.19: Ogun Samast at the Samsun Gendarmerie Station………………… 75 Figure 7.1: ―Armenian Armed Militants,‖ from