The Intellectual Foundations of the Turkish National Student Union (Mttb), 1965-1980
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İSMAİL YAZICI THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE MTTB Bilkent University 2020 University OF MTTB Bilkent INTELLECTUAL THE YAZICI THE FOUNDATIONS İSMAİL THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE TURKISH NATIONAL STUDENT UNION (MTTB), 1965-1980 A Master’s Thesis by İSMAİL YAZICI Department of Political Science and Public Administration İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara August 2020 THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE TURKISH NATIONAL STUDENT UNION (MTTB), 1965-1980 The Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by İSMAİL YAZICI In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA August 2020 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Political Science and Public Administration. --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Alev Çınar Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Political Science and Public Administration. --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Berrin Koyuncu-Lorasdağı Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Political Science and Public Administration. --------------------------------- Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlker Aytürk Examining Committee Member Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Halime Demirkan Director ABSTRACT THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE TURKISH NATIONAL STUDENT UNION (MTTB), 1965-1980 Yazıcı, İsmail M.A., Department of Political Science and Public Administration Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Alev Çınar August 2020 This thesis examines the intellectual foundations of the ideology of the Turkish National Student Union (MTTB) by analyzing the publications of this organization, once a paragon of Islamic youth activism in Turkey. It aims to scrutinize the place of the ideological orientation of the MTTB in the broader ideological spectrum of Turkish political thought. Through this analysis, this study questions some prevalent assumptions about the right-left wing distinction in Turkish political thought concerning the ideological position of the MTTB. To this end, it analyzes several key political concepts, namely revolution, order, conquest, and civilization, in the magazines published by the union between 1965 and 1980. The study reveals how the MTTB’s ideological position against the state, political order and national identity had undergone change over the years. It also discusses the influence of the intellectual context of time on the changing ideological configuration of the union. The analysis demonstrates that in the context of the Cold War, post-colonial visions of Islamist trends, mainstream conservative nationalist political thought in Turkey i and the principles of Naksibendi order had shaped the ideological configuration and strategy of the MTTB in a way that it acquired a distinct Islamic identity with a strong emphasis of the Ottoman past as a righteous model of political order and civilization. Keywords: Islam, Order, Revolution, Turkey, Turkish National Student Union. ii ÖZET MİLLİ TÜRK TALEBE BİRLİĞİ’NİN (MTTB) ENTELEKTÜEL TEMELLERİ, 1965-1980 Yazıcı, İsmail Yüksek Lisans, Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Tez Danışmanı: Prof. Dr. Alev Çınar Ağustos 2020 Bu çalışma Türkiye’de bir dönem İslami gençlik hareketinin önemli bir temsilcisi olan Milli Türk Talebe Birliği’nin (MTTB) siyasi ideolojisinin entelektüel temellerini birliğin yayınlarını analiz ederek incelemektedir. Bu tezde, siyasal kavramların analizi ile MTTB’nin ideolojik yöneliminin Türk siyasal düşüncesinde, özellikle sağ-sol siyaseti çerçevesinde, konumlandığı yerin belirlenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, bu çalışmada 1965-1980 yılları arasındaki MTTB yayınlarında sıklıkla kullanılan inkılap, nizam, fetih ve medeniyet kavramlarının analizi yapılmıştır. Böylece birliğin devlet, siyasal düzen ve milli kimlik konularına yaklaşımındaki değişimler değerlendirilmiştir. Bu çalışma, ayrıca bahsedilen dönemdeki entelektüel tartışmaların MTTB üzerindeki etkilerini de araştırmaktadır. Bu tezdeki kavramsal analiz MTTB’nin devam eden Soğuk Savaş bağlamında, Türkiye dışındaki İslamcı düşünürlerin sömürgecilik dönemi sonrası fikirleri, Türkiye’deki ana akım muhafazakâr milliyetçi düşünce geleneği ve iii geleneksel tarikat öğretilerinden etkilendiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Böylece, birlik Osmanlı tarihini ideal bir siyasal düzen ve medeniyet örneği olarak tanımlayan kendine has bir İslami kimlik inşa etmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: İnkılap, İslam, Milli Türk Talebe Birliği, Nizam, Türkiye. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my advisor, Prof. Dr. Alev Çınar, for her continuous support, inspiration and encouragement during all stages of this study. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to work under her supervision. I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my thesis committee members, Prof. Dr. Berrin Koyuncu-Lorasdağı and Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlker Aytürk for their insightful comments and suggestions. I am also grateful to all professors of Bilkent University’s Political Science and Public Administration program who contributed to my learning process. Special thanks should be given to our department’s administrative assistant, Hale Diri, for her guidance during the submission of this thesis. Last but not least, I would like to thank TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) for the generous support provided during my master’s studies. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. i ÖZET........................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 1.1 Studying Political Concepts .......................................................................... 4 1.2 The Studies on the MTTB ............................................................................. 5 1.3 Methodology ................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER II INQUIRING INTO THE IDEOLOGY OF THE MTTB ................. 16 2.1 The Timeline of the MTTB ......................................................................... 16 2.2 The MTTB: Organization, Goals, and Objectives....................................... 21 2.3 Right-wing Politics in Turkey ..................................................................... 26 2.4 Historical Background ................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER III STRADDLING BETWEEN THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION AND ISLAMIC REVIVALISM ................................................................................ 33 vi 3.1 Revolution in Turkish Political Thought ..................................................... 33 3.2 The Concept of Revolution and the MTTB ................................................. 35 CHAPTER IV THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF ORDER .............................. 56 4.1 The Concept of Order in Turkish Political Thought ................................... 56 4.2 The Concept of Order and the MTTB ......................................................... 59 CHAPTER V THE OTTOMAN LEGACY IN THE MTTB .................................... 72 5.1 The Views on the Concept of Conquest in the Turkish Context ................. 72 5.2 The Meaning of the Conquest for the MTTB .............................................. 74 5.3 Civilization in Turkish Political Thought .................................................... 79 5.4 The Discourse of Civilization in the MTTB ............................................... 82 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 86 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 91 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AKP: Justice and Development Party AP: Justice Party CHP: Republican People’s Party CMKP: Republican Peasant Nation Party DP: Democrat Party IIFSO: International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations İTC: Committee of Union and Progress MHP: Nationalist Action Party MNP: National Order Party MSP: National Salvation Party MTTB: Turkish National Student Union TİP: Labor Party of Turkey viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In this thesis, I examine the intellectual foundations of the ideology of the Turkish National Student Union (MTTB) by analyzing the publications of this organization, once a paragon of Islamic youth activism in Turkey. It aims to scrutinize the place of the ideological orientation of the MTTB in the broader ideological spectrum of Turkish political thought. Through this