The Transformation of the Nationalist Ideology in Turkey: the Nationalist Action Party After the 1999 Elections
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THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE NATIONALIST IDEOLOGY IN TURKEY: THE NATIONALIST ACTION PARTY AFTER THE 1999 ELECTIONS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF THE MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY GÜLDEN İZ KATIRCI IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION DECEMBER 2006 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences _______________________ Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as the thesis for the degree of Master of Science. _______________________ Prof. Dr. Feride Acar Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. _______________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Okyayuz Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Okyayuz (METU, PSPA) _______________________ Instructor Dr. Barı ş Çakmur (METU, PSPA) _______________________ Assist. Prof. Dr.Mehmet Yeti ş (Ankara Uni., PSPA) _______________________ 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, Surname : Güldeniz Katırcı Signature : iii ABSTRACT Katırcı, Güldeniz M. S., Department of Political Science and Public Administration Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Okyayuz December 2006, 157 pages The main purpose of the thesis is to demonstrate whether or not the rapid rise and decline of radical nationalism between 1999 and 2002 elections may be related to an ideological identity crisis of the Nationalist Action Party. In this context, the focus will be on the transformation of the nationalist ideology, “nationalisms” in the Ottoman Empire, Kemalist/official nationalism, and transformation of Turkish nationalism to a political party ideology and its further transformation in Turkey. The reason for drawing such a framework is related to the fact that the developmental line of the nationalist phenomenon shows a three dimensional historical continuity line in influencing Turkish nationalism as a political party ideology. The possible ideological identity crisis in the NAP ideology, which has been visible between the 1999 and 2002 general elections, should be searched in the genetic categorical paradoxes and in the transformation of nationalism as a modern phenomenon, which have been influential upon all nationalism types emerged after it. The complex structure of the nationalist phenomenon, which started to be influential on the Ottoman Empire had influenced the developmental periods of “nationalisms” appeared in their original structure. Turkish nationalism, which had developed on the same line with Ottomanism, Islamism and Turkism, had inherited both the categorical paradoxes of nationalism and the emergence of “original” Turkish nationalism. Thus, Turkish nationalism, as a nation-state ideology, had been the carrier of these categorical inconsistencies, which had remained until the multi-party period and which were transformed to a political party ideology with the NAP in the 1960s. Therefore, throughout the thesis, the possible ideological identity crisis of the NAP ideology will be searched in its complex relation with the transformation history of political nationalism and its specific transformation in Turkey. At the end, the ideological statute of nationalism in the political spectrum will be questioned. iv Key Concepts: Nationalism, Nationalist Ideology, Turkish Nationalism, Radical Nationalism as a Party Ideology, NAP, Ideological Identity Crisis, 1999 and 2002 General Elections. v ÖZ Katırcı, Güldeniz Yüksek Lisans, Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Mehmet Okyayuz Aralık, 2006, 157 sayfa Bu tezin amacı, 1999 ve 2002 genel seçimleri arasında a şırı milliyetçili ğin ani yükseli ş ve dü şüşünün Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi’ndeki ideolojik bir kimlik krizinin sonucu olup olmadı ğını göstermektir. Bu ba ğlamda, milliyetçili ğin dönü şümüne, Osmanlı İmparatorlu ğu içindeki “milliyetçilikler”e, Kemalist/resmi milliyetçili ğe, Türk milliyetçili ğinin politik parti ideolojisine dönü şümüne ve daha sonraki dönü şümlerinin de ğerlendirilmesine odaklanmaktadır. Böyle bir çerçevenin çizilme nedeni milliyetçili ğin geli şiminin, politik parti ideolojisi olarak Türk milliyetçili ğini etkilerken üç yönlü bir tarihsel devamlılık çizgisi gösterdi ği gerçe ğine ba ğlanabilir. MHP ideolojisinde 1999 ve 2002 genel seçimleri arasında gözle görünür olmaya ba şlayan olası bir ideolojik kimlik krizinin belirtileri, milliyetçili ğin, kendisinden sonra ortaya çıkan tüm “milliyetçilikler” üzerinde etkili olan genetik kategorik çeli şkilerinde ve modern bir fenomen olarak dönü şümünde aranmalıdır. Milliyetçili ğin Osmanlı İmparatorlu ğu üzerinde etkili olan bu karma şık yapısı burada ortaya çıkan “milliyetçilikler”in geli şim dönemlerini etkilemi ştir. Osmanlıcılık, Islamcılık ve Türkçülük ile aynı çizgide geli şen Türk milliyetçili ği, milliyetçili ğin kategorik çeli şkilerinin ve Türk milliyetçili ğin ortaya çıkı şının original çeli şkilerinin ikisini birden devralmı ştır. Böylece, Türk milliyetçili ği ulus-devlet ideolojisi olarak, çok partili hayata geçilene kadar hayatta kalan ve 1960’larda MHP ile politik parti ideolojisine dönü şen bu kategorik çeli şkilerin ta şıyıcısı olmu ştur. Bu nedenle, tez boyunca, MHP ideolojisin olası kimlik krizi onun politik milliyetçili ğin dönü şüm tarihiyle olan karma şık ili şkisinde ve üurkiye’deki özgül dönü şümünde aranacaktır. Son olarak, milliyetçili ğin siyasi yelpazedeki ideolojik statüsü sorgulanacaktır. vi Anahtar Kelimeler: Milliyetçilik, Milliyetçi İdeoloji, Türk Milliyetçili ği, Parti İdeolojisi olarak Radikal Milliyetçilik, MHP, İdeolojik Kimlik Krizi, 1999 ve 2002 Genel Seçimleri. vii To Murat Beyazyüz viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Okyayuz for his patience, guidance, encouragement and intellectual support. It was a great chance for me to study with a person like him. I also wish to thank to Instructor Dr. Barı ş Çakmur and Assist. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Yeti ş for their criticisms and comments. They shed light upon my intellectual map for my further studies. I owe too much to my family, especially; to my grandmother Zeynep Uzun for the life energy she gives to me and to my mother Nezaket Katırcı, for her emotional support. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my best friend, everything, Murat Beyazyüz, for his unique patience, emotional and intellectual support he had shown me throughout the thesis. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM........................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT............................................................................................................iv ÖZ...........................................................................................................................vi DEDICATION ..................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .....................................................................................ix TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................ xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................1 2. NATIONALISM ..........................................................................................12 2.1 Theoretical Approaches towards Nationalism ....................................12 2.2 Nationalist Ideology: From the French Revolution to the 21 st Century.............................................................................................20 3. FROM THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE TO MODERN TURKEY: THE ROLE OF NATIONALISM..............................................................................33 3.1 “Nationalisms” within the Ottoman Empire .......................................33 3.2 Pan-Turkism, Its Emergence and Transformation within the Ottoman Empire......................................................................................36 3.3 The Theoretical Roots of the Official Ideology: From Turkism to Turkish Nationalism................................................................................42 4. TURKISH NATIONALISM .........................................................................48 4.1 The Rise of “National-Consciousness” in Anatolia Before the Establishment of the Republic ...............................................48 4.2 Official (Kemalist) Nationalism........................................................54 4.3 Nationalisms within the RPP and the Single Party Period .................63 x 4.4 Political Nationalism after the Multi-Party Period.............................67 5. THE TRANSFORMATION OF NATIONALSIM INTO A POLITICAL PARTY IDEOLOGY AND the NAP......................................72 5.1 The Heritage of Turkism from the Nation Party and the Republican Peasants Nation Party to the Nationalist Action Party.........72 5.2 The Ideological Re-establishment of the RPNP.................................77 5.3 Adana Congress and