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Kemalism As a Language for Turkish Politics: Cultivation, Reproduction, Negotiation

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Kemalism As a Language for Turkish Politics: Cultivation, Reproduction, Negotiation Kemalism as a Language for Turkish Politics: Cultivation, Reproduction, Negotiation Agapi-Leda Glyptis London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London Thesis submitted for examination for the degree of PhD For my grandparents, in loving memory Abstract Every political system has a shared language of symbols, narratives and priorities through which legitimation is sought. This language is basic and schematic, yet it generates 'legitimate' priorities and objectives. My interest is two-fold: firstly, how is this language reproduced, disseminated and upheld? Secondly, how is it used, interpreted and adapted to legitimise a wide array of actions, policies or ideas? I seek to answer these questions in light of Turkey's EU ambitions. I sketch the prescriptions of what I call the normative core of Turkish politics, as expressed through national socialisation, the Constitution and the raison d'etre of key institutions. I show how institutions such as the military, judiciary and Presidency legitimise their actions through appeals to this normative core, thus reproducing it with little variation, while simultaneously reproducing a shared language of politics. I also highlight the wide dissemination this language enjoys through education and early learning as well as its symbolic reproduction through spatial narratives such as national sites, museums and monuments. Having demonstrated how this language is institutionally entrenched, widely disseminated and extensively used for the legitimation of public activities, I turn to the question of whether its constraints also create opportunities. I argue that Turkey's EU ambitions have actually led to the proliferation of such opportunities by introducing an alternative value benchmark in the pursuit of political legitimacy. Although the language is not abandoned, it is being actively enriched. After decades of tension and reform, the notions of 'secularism' and 'westernisation', cornerstones of the normative core of Turkish politics, are now open to debate. This could lead to a process of radical re-negotiation of political values. Alternatively, the constraints that the language imposes might actually outweigh the opportunities. For now, a delicate but fascinating process of negotiation is unfolding in the heart of the Turkish political system. My PhD seeks to explain and analyse it. List of Illustrations (all illustrations are in the Appendix) Figure 1 - Republic Monument, Taksim Square Figure 2 - Istanbul University Figure 3 - Istanbul, Topkapi Figure 4 - Istanbul, Yedikule Figure 5 - 'Turk Be Proud, Work, Trust, School in Foca Figure 6 - 'The Foundation of the Turkish Republic is Culture', Izmir Ethnographic Museum Figure 7 - Atatiirk's House in Salonica Figure 8 - Replica of Atariirk's House, Ankara Figure 9 - Ankara's Ethnographic Museum Figure 10 - Kocatepe Mosque, Ankara Figure 11 - Ankara Municipality Logo Figure 12 - Amtkabir Figure 13 - ibid Figure 14 - Istanbul, Dolmabah^e Figure 15- War of Independence Museum, Ankara Figure 16 - Ulus Square, Ankara Figure 17 - Ankara's Gtiven Parki Figure 18 - Ankara, Atatiirk Bulvan Figure 19 - Ankara, Ministry of Justice Figure 20 - Ankara, Doga Parki Figure 21 - Ankara, Kugulu Parki Figure 22 - Turk Telecom advert Figure 23 - Ankara, Sihhiye List of Abbreviations AKP Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, Justice and Development Party ANAP Anavatan Partisi, the Motherland Party CHP Cumhurriyet Halk Partisi, Republican People's Party DEHAP Demokratik Halk Partisi, Democratic People's Party DIB Diyanet isleri Bakanligi, Directorate of Religious Affairs ECHR European Court of Human Rights ITA Inkilap Tarihi ve Ataturkfuluk, Reforms' History and Atatiirkism (high school textbook) KKTC Kuzey Kibns Tiirk Cumhuriyeti, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus MHP Milliyet9i Hareket Partisi, Nationalist Movement Party NSC National Security Council (Milli Giivenlik Kurulu) RTUK Radyo ve Televizyon Ust Kurulu, the broadcasting regulatory authority SSCs State Security Courts (Devlet Giivenlik Mahkemeleri) TAP Turkish Armed Forces (Tiirk Silahli Kuvvetleri) TIS Tiirk-islam Sentezi, Turkish Islamic Synthesis TRT Tiirkiye Radyo Televizyon TTT Tiirk Tanh Tesi, Turkish History Thesis YOK Yiiksekogretim Kurulu, Higher Education Council Acknowledgments I am indebted to the LSE and the Stapley Trust for their financial support, as well as to the following people for their assistance and advice: my supervisors Professors Dominic Lieven and Rodney Barker; Elif Da§9i for her assistance with Chapter 2; Christopher Wilson for his assistance with Chapter 3; Professor William Wallace for his comments on Chapter 7; Marc Lefebvre for his advice on Chapter 1; Dr. Ayhan Akman's insightful comments on the functioning of YOK and Sinem Erturk for videotaping endless hours of Turkish television on my behalf. Special thanks to Charles Walford for his invaluable editing; for having accompanied me to Ankara mid-summer; and for sustaining me through the difficulties of losing family and finalising this thesis. I am truly grateful. Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my parents for their unwavering support. They often had more faith in me than I did and that made all the difference. Introduction Introduction The Republic of Turkey is Mustafa Kemal's (later Atatiirk) creation. This thesis sets out to examine the place Atatiirk's legacy occupies in Turkey today and the role it still plays in Turkish politics. I intend to show that Kemalism, an idiosyncratic blend of legacies, ideas and prescriptions, constitutes Turkey's language for legitimate politics, moulding political debate and processes. I propose that Kemalism is neither redundant nor a hegemonic ideology, as much of the literature suggests. Rather, after eight decades of being appealed to, institutionalised and celebrated, Kemalism has become a language used by law, educators, politicians and journalists, regardless of whether they understand Ataturk's legacy the same way or, indeed, embrace it entirely. This way of analysing Kemalism has not, to my knowledge, been documented and explored before. Yet it is vital to do so as Kemalism's ability to articulate Turkey's future is being revisited as Kemalism, as a language, is being renegotiated. Because many embrace Kemalism as an ideology or creed and reject the very notion of re-interpretation and negotiation, using Kemalism as a language and, even more controversially, negotiating its specifics are sensitive issues in Turkey. Certain groups oppose this flexibility and seek to reverse it. The ensuing battle of wills between opposing groups is fought in Kemalist terms. Claims are made and opposed, effectively, in the same language. This does not mean that Kemalism is the only language for politics in Turkey; others do exist. Some, for instance, Islamic political idioms, antagonise Kemalist assumptions. Others, such as languages premised on Western universality and democratic popularity, represent alternatives without rejecting Kemalism, for Europe as an abstraction and universal values as a measure of civilisation are Kemalist legacies, as is the Republic within which a popular mandate can be claimed. Kemalism frames political debate in Turkey. Research for this thesis started practically as Turkey's current government came to power. My initial purpose was to understand Turkey's erratic relationship with the EU, explain why EU membership is simultaneously feared and coveted and why domestic political actors simultaneously accuse each other of wanting EU membership too much and not wanting it enough. What I found is that Ataturk's legacy on the issue of westernisation is mixed and that a fierce negotiation on what it actually entailed and whether joining the EU will realise Ataturk's dream or Introduction undermine his legacy is currently under way. This negotiation is effectively debating both Turkey's path towards the future and the nature of this future. Chapter 1 will discuss the nature of Atattirk's legacy and its function and seek to explain 'Kemalism' by looking at Atattirk's statements and speeches, analyses and opinions offered by partisan intellectuals, politicians and journalists as well as academic accounts. Looking at Atattirk's perception of his bequest, I will assess the form its preservation takes: is it an ideology? A tradition? A movement? This will help me analyse both this legacy's corresponding role within Turkish politics and the nature of its influence. Here I will propose that, although Atattirkism is an ideology for some and is understood as a movement by many, it has also become - through time, institutionalisation and extensive use - a language. Kemalism, I argue, is a language for the construction and negotiation of legitimacy in Turkey. Kemalism as a language is useful because it is universally intelligible. In Chapters 2 and 3,1 will show how every Turk is socialised into recognising Kemalist narratives, themes and priorities. Chapter 2 will look at schoolbooks, language books and leisure reading materials for children, while Chapter 3 will look at republican monuments, museums and national sites. I will show how a nexus of meaning is introduced at a young age and then constantly elaborated on and reproduced through a saturation of public space with Kemalist symbols and narratives. Chapter 4 will show that this language is used not only to articulate national identity, but is actually the language of the law; its priorities are also the priorities of Turkey's legal system. Here I will demonstrate that the constitution derives its legitimacy
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