The Journal of Architecture

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Architectural mimicry and the politics of building: negotiating and Nation in

Bülent Batuman

To cite this article: Bülent Batuman (2016) Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey, The Journal of Architecture, 21:3, 321-347, DOI: 10.1080/13602365.2016.1179660

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2016.1179660

Published online: 17 May 2016.

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The Journal of Architecture Volume 21 Number 3 Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey

Bülent Batuman Department of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, Bilkent University, Turkey (Author’s e-mail address: [email protected])

This paper discusses the politics of mosque architecture in modern Turkey. The classical Ottoman mosque image has been reproduced in state-sponsored throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Defining this particular design strategy as architectural mimicry, I discuss the emergence of this image through the negotiation between the nation- state and the ‘nationalist conservative’ discourse within the context of Cold War geopolitics. Comparing the Turkish case with the Islamic post-colonial world, I argue that the prevalence of architectural mimicry is related to the nostalgia it generates. Nostalgia is a discursive effect of architectural mimicry which is in tune with the nationalist conservative worldview in its relationship to the state’s anti-communism. This particular image was taken up by the Islamist AKP in the 2000s, within the context of the global rise of political Islam. In this instance, the same representation took on a different meaning. It functioned as a simulacrum representing the ‘nation in Islam’ with a claim to authenticity amongst the competing Islamic representations.

Introduction century. This choice is not surprising since Sinan has On 20th July, 2012, the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep had a mythical cultural status for the political power

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 Tayyip Erdog˘ an, spoke at the inauguration of the of architecture: nationalistic nostalgia for a glorious newly built Mimar Sinan Mosque in Atas¸ehir, a past represented by classical rapidly growing district in the Anatolian part of Istan- signifies imperial power and serves as an ‘origin’ for bul. This new mosque was a grandiose replica of clas- a national(ist) architecture. Curiously, the dedicatory sical Ottoman examples, with a 42-metre-high dome inscription signed by the Prime Minister himself and four 72-metre ; it was large enough to explained the significance of ‘Sinan the master’ as welcome 12,500 people for prayer (Fig. 1). In having shown ‘the glorious face of a nation and civi- addition, it contained conference and exhibition lisation’ with his works. Here, the curious expression halls, classrooms, shops, a library and a two-storey of ‘a nation and civilisation’ is not a case of parking garage. It was built in twenty-two months awkward translation; the Turkish phrase itself refers for an estimated cost of 20 million USD.1 Although not to the Turkish nation and Islamic civilisation as it was intended to be named the ‘Anatolian Great two separate entities but rather implies two qualities Mosque’, this was changed on the Prime Minister’s of one and the same entity. instruction to honour the master architect of Suley- If we put this odd point aside to come back to later man the Magnificent who lived in the sixteenth and turn to the mosque itself, according to Erdog˘ an

# 2016 RIBA Enterprises 1360-2365 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2016.1179660 322

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey Bülent Batuman

Figure 1. Mimar Sinan Mosque (2012; photograph by Gülse Eraydın). Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016

it fulfilled a crucial need in the Anatolian part of the the Prime Minister was not referring to the size of city: ‘There is the Fatih Mosque; there is the Sultan the mosque, but to its political symbolism signifying Ahmet and the Süleymaniye on the European side. Ottoman power. We wished to have a selatin mosque on this side Finally, if we look at those who attended the inau- as well.’ The choice of the word selatin was signifi- guration ceremony, aside from the group of Minis- cant and very conscious, since the Prime Minister ters, the Prime Minister was accompanied by the used it twice in his speech. The word is literally the President of the Iraqi National Assembly, who embo- plural form of ‘Sultan’ and is used to define died significance in terms of the ethno-religious div- mosques built by Royal family members in the isions within Middle-Eastern politics. Being the Sunni Ottoman era. Considering that the Maltepe representative occupying the third most powerful Mosque built between 1988 and 2001 dominated seat (after the Kurdish President and the Shiite the skyline of the Anatolian side, it was clear that Prime-Minister), within the delicate and at times 323

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tense power relationships in Iraq he was a close ally even under neo-liberal globalism. Below, I will of Turkey. That is, his attendance was a political begin with a discussion of architectural mimicry gesture towards the Middle East. This was in tune and its interpretations in the field of architectural with Erdog˘ an’s victory speech on the night of the history. Next, I will analyse the politics of elections in June, 2011, where he hailed ‘all those mosque-building in Turkey and the meanings pro- in Baghdad, Cairo, Sarajevo, Baku, Nicosia and all duced through mimicry. In doing this, I will refer to other friendly and brotherly peoples who turned three particular cases from two different periods. I their eyes to Turkey’ and stated that their victory will present as the prime was the victory of ‘the oppressed and the aggrieved’: example of mimicry for nostalgia with reference ‘Believe me, Sarajevo is victorious as much as Istan- to the work of Homi Bhabha. Then I will discuss bul [today]; Beirut as much as Izmir, the West Bank two recent examples, both of which were pro- and Gaza as much as Diyarbakır. Today it is the posed for within the Islamist moment: Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans as the unbuilt project for and the much as Turkey that is victorious.’2 Çamlıca Mosque, now under construction. I will These three issues present at the inauguration of argue that the deployment of architectural Mimar Sinan Mosque—namely the metonymic use mimicry to reproduce the image of classical of the (Turkish) nation and (Islamic) civilisation, the Ottoman mosques produces a distinct meaning in curious reference to Ottoman rule symbolised with the current global context. selatin mosques and Prime Minister Erdog˘ an’s politi- To support my argument, I will briefly discuss cal ambitions to be influential across the Muslim the reflections of the ‘Islamic revival’ in mosque

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 world—define the main topic of this paper. I will architecture. I define the return to traditional archi- discuss these three issues through the politics of tectural features in mosque architecture as re- mosque architecture, specifically the reproduction Orientalism, which supports the idea that there is of the Ottoman classical mosque image. My main one whole entity called Islam and affirms its con- argument in this paper is that although imitation struction as the ‘other’ in the Western gaze. In of classical Ottoman mosque architecture has been contrast, the mimicry of Ottoman mosque architec- in place throughout republican history and was pol- ture at the current moment has to be understood itically effective after the 1950s, its recent utilisation differently, since it implies a singularity of the is significantly different and operates as an instru- Ottoman mosque type within the current global ment in rebuilding national identity with reference context. I discuss the mimicry of Ottoman to Islam. mosques as a case of self-Orientalism, which Architectural mimicry as a political instrument is differs from re-Orienalism with its claim to differen- not a twentieth-century invention and it has tiate itself from other representations of Islam to often been deployed within the distinct contexts be recognised not only by the Western gaze but of colonialism, post-colonial nation-building and also the Islamic audience. 324

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey Bülent Batuman

The politics of architectural mimicry republican Turkey, following its foundation in Mimicry was an important component of colonial 1923. Modernism was seen as a cultural manifes- architecture. The use of already existing architectural tation of nation building throughout the inter-war idioms within colonial encounters has been scruti- period.7 Hence, ideas, schemes and forms related nised by scholars since the late 1980s.3 The coloni- to urban development and architectural style were sers often visually reproduced traditional transferred from Europe.8 In the post-war era, architectures of the colonized, at times to display Turkey was also among nations seeking integration power (particularly in the World Fairs) and at times with Western capitalism and importing the Inter- to inflict assimilation in the colonies.4 Sometimes national Style as a globally valid signifier of Ameri- western architectural forms were imposed on the can-type modernisation.9 colonies as nationalist signifiers to maintain an The last two decades of the twentieth century also imperial image in the eyes of both the colonisers witnessed the utilisation of architectural mimicry as and the colonised.5 The need to uphold identifi- an effect of globalisation; this time particularly cation by colonial subjects with a colonial power through the importation of architectural typologies led to the operation of architectural mimicry as a serving tourism and consumption.10 Shopping domain of negotiation and hybridisation. Homi arcades, tourist resorts and theme parks began flour- Bhabha has famously discussed mimicry as an ishing in differing parts of the globe; moreover, with ambivalent relationship between the coloniser and the advent of post-modernism, the architectural the colonised. Accordingly, the act of mimicking forms in circulation also juxtaposed images derived the coloniser is simultaneously a disciplinary colonial from a variety of historical styles.11 This trend was

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 practice and one that ‘discloses the ambivalence of also embraced in Turkey: tourist resorts as well as colonial discourse and disrupts its authority’.6 I find the newly emerging gated communities imitated tra- Bhabha’s definition of the concept useful for the ditional residential architecture, claiming to seek a case of mosque architecture in Turkey, where what ‘Turkish identity’.12 is at stake is not the relationship between a subject Thus, architectural mimicry has a history of more position and the colonial ‘other’ that defines it, but than two centuries. Its theorisation, on the other one between a subject position and a constitutive hand, has not been integral and has mostly focussed referent, which itself is a representation—of the six- on specific historical contexts. My aim in this paper is teenth-century Ottoman Empire. to contribute to these debates through the compara- Architectural mimicry was also a major strategy in tive analysis of architectural mimicry within two nation-building and modernisation, where post- different historical periods in Turkey: first, the post- colonial nation states admired International Style war moment and the rise of the Cold War and modernism imported from the West as an architec- second, the current Islamist moment. Before going tural proof of cultural modernisation. This was into the discussion of mosque architecture in already a major strand of national development in Turkey, it is crucial to emphasise that the mimicry 325

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of sixteenth-century Ottoman mosques in the repub- golden age (of the glorious Ottoman Empire) is lican era did not involve the exact replication of par- long gone. However, mimicry as a state project of ticular grandiose mosques. Bianca Bosker has Islamism in the 2000s is radically different, rooted recently discussed architectural mimicry in contem- in the disavowal of such failure and the claim to porary China, where actual buildings of the rebuild the glory of the past in today’s conditions. Western world are imitated in detail.13 Bosker As I will show, this leads to the emergence of the argues that this is an attempt at symbolically con- Ottoman mosque as a simulacrum: a representation quering the West’s past and present; it also relates envisaging the gap between the original and itself as to Chinese culture’s appreciation of a ‘good copy’. irrelevant. In the case of Ottoman mosque replicas, however, it is not particular mosques but a general idea of a The primal encounter: Kocatepe Mosque classical Ottoman mosque that is imitated. It never In order to understand the significance of construct- involves an exact replica of a particular mosque but ing a twentieth-century representation of the rather favours an image produced with components Ottoman Empire in its heyday, it is necessary to of different examples: the plan of one mosque, the discuss briefly the uneasy relationship between number of minarets of another, etc. This allows for Islam and nation in Turkey. The republican ethos a major difference from exact replication: the was built on a foundational disavowal of the product of mimicry is not perceived as imitation Ottoman past, particularly its Islamic identity.15 The but as authenticity. However, the claim to authen- Ottoman Empire was conceived as the embodiment ticity through mimicry is a complex issue. Although of backwardness representing everything that had

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 the intention is to repeat the original, mimicry to be overcome in order to ‘catch up with’ continually produces ‘its slippage, its excess, its Western modernity. The national identity was difference’.14 The outcome is ‘almost the same, invented with reference to a distant Turkish history but not quite’; Bhabha defines this as the ambiva- preceding the Ottomans. Yet, when it was necess- lence of mimicry. ary, Ottoman references were also put to use, with I argue that mimicry of the classical Ottoman an emphasis on Turkishness downplaying Islam.16 mosque produces different meanings in different A good example illustrating this was that of Sinan, historical contexts, which can be differentiated pre- who was re-invented as a proto-modern genius cisely through their relationship to the ambivalence architect in the 1930s in order to utilise architecture of mimicry. It emerged as an architectural idiom of in forming the national ethos.17 the nationalist-conservative worldview in the The radical secularism of the single-party regime 1950s, which operated through the mechanism of that lasted until the end of the Second World War nostalgia. Here, nostalgia is a discursive effect of resulted in the strict control of the religious domain architectural mimicry, acknowledging its failure as by the state. One of the first measures taken by representation: the painful reminder that the the young nation state was the establishment of 326

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey Bülent Batuman

Figure 2. Unbuilt project for Kocatepe Mosque, designed by (source, Vedat Dalokay Archive).

the Directorate of Religious Affairs in 1924 to control The Democrat Party (DP), which came to power in all religious activity in the country, including the 1950, aimed for reconciliation with the Islamic iden- administration of its 12, 500 mosques.18 Within tity of the country. One of the first actions of the this context, mosque building was merely a response government was to allow the performance of the

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 to communal needs. The mosques built in this period call to prayer in Arabic. Although Islamic ideas flour- were relatively small in size and no major examples ished anew under the Democrats, Islamism was still were executed. The builders followed local traditions not allowed to emerge as an independent political in the provinces and deferred to the existing force and instead found its way into the encompass- Ottoman mosques in the larger cities. Mosque archi- ing ideological current labelled ‘nationalist conserva- tecture was not a part of the cultural manifestations tism’.19 This originated mainly from a circle of of nation building throughout the early republican intellectuals representing conservative thought years, which made Turkey an exceptional case against the radical modernisation efforts of the among the nation states established in countries early republican years.20 with Islamic populations. This in turn resulted in With the end of single-party rule and the rise of the lack of a debate on the iconography of the Cold War geopolitics, the nationalist conservative mosque until the 1950s. That is, although current successfully blended nationalist and Islamist Ottoman mosque architecture was a source of refer- streams on the common ground of anti-commun- ence, this was not mimicry as conscious imitation but ism. This ideological amalgam merged opposition continuity of building traditions. to radical modernism and secularism (as well as 327

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any strands of leftism) while emphasising the neces- Finally, if we consider the government’s attitude sity of a powerful state to defend national unity. regarding the ideological aspect of mosque architec- Hence, it was instrumental in expanding state hege- ture, a propaganda booklet for the 1957 elections mony while presenting itself as an oppositional dis- provides us with relevant material. This booklet course. In this context, political Islam never was entitled ‘Towards Great ’ and it focussed positioned itself in direct confrontation with the on the development of the capital city under the state, but rather negotiated its demands through Democrats.25 The modernist overtone of the publi- the nationalist conservative agenda. The sixteenth- cation was visible in the pairs of photographs century Ottoman Empire at the zenith of its power showing the before and after conditions of various was the prime referent for the nationalist conserva- parts of the city as well as the frequent use of photo- tive imagination, representing the golden age of graphs of models of new buildings designed in Inter- Nation and Islam. national style architecture. Within the section Although the Democrat Party was a successor the illustrating the new buildings in order, a striking republicans in terms of secular modernisation, it did photograph showed the model of the newly not hesitate to utilise the mosque as a symbol of designed Kocatepe Mosque (Fig. 2). The mosque national identity. Under the Democrats the mosque had a modern design and its site was in Yenis¸ehir gradually gained political significance. One of the (‘new city’), the modern district constructed in the two hot topics in this regard was : its republican era. Yenis¸ehir was associated with repub- secular status as a museum began to be disputed lican modernisation with its modernist planning and as early as 1952.21 The second was the proposal to the location of the government quarter as its centre-

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 build a mosque in Taksim Square for which a build- piece.26 ing plot was allocated by the municipality in 1955.22 Hence, building a mosque here was a political Whilst these endeavours were frustrated when mili- gesture. Located on a hilltop across from Atatürk’s tary intervention toppled the Democrats in 1960, the Mausoleum, the ‘greatest mosque of the republican nationalist-conservative pressure on right-wing era’—as the caption of the photograph contended parties continued in the following decade and —was realised under the patronage of the Prime proved successful with the allocation of a new build- Minister, .27 The modernist design ing plot by the government in 1965. The issue was of the mosque, which was presented by the govern- even a topic during the local elections in 1968.23 ment with pride, was quite controversial for conser- Both Hagia Sophia and the vative circles. Achieved through an architectural debates prove that the mosque as such had an ideo- competition won by Vedat Dalokay and Nejat Teke- logical content by the 1950s. Moreover, these two liog˘ lu, the proposed scheme followed the traditional issues also illustrate the growing influence of nation- mosque layout in its central dome, minarets and alist conservatism as an oppositional-yet-hegemonic physical organisation. Yet, its innovative structure discourse.24 made up of a thin concrete shell defined the main 328

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey Bülent Batuman

prayer hall as a unified space flooded with light from first time. As already indicated, its minarets were all sides. The corners where the shell touched the likened to space rockets and construction was ground were marked with four slender minarets, a delayed.29 Finally the project was abandoned and number familiar from Ottoman monumental its foundations were destroyed in 1966. A new mosques, yet their abstracted forms, resembling project, which was a colossal Ottoman replica rockets, were perceived as quite alien.28 mostly imitating Sinan’sS¸ ehzade Mosque, was In fact, the modernist interpretation of Kocatepe approved in 1967 after a speedy competition and Mosque was in tune with the international trends its construction was begun.30 Not only the style of the post-war years, where the newly established but also the size of the mosque was dramatically nation states in Islamic countries deployed similar changed to house ten times as many people approaches. Major examples of this trend were the (Fig. 3).31 Masjid Istiqlal in Jakarta, which was the winning The termination of the modernist project for Koca- project of the 1955 competition, and the Masjid tepe Mosque was a shock for the architectural com- Negara in Kuala Lumpur, which was designed in munity in Turkey.32 Moreover, it was a decisive 1957. The following decade also saw the continu- moment, giving birth to the mimicry of classical ation of the same trend with the examples in the Ottoman mosque architecture. This primal encoun- Capitol Complex in Dhaka designed by Louis Kahn ter with the modernist mosque as such resulted in 1962 and the King in , in the ideological recognition of architecture: from the design competition for which was won by this point onwards the symbolism of the mosque Vedat Dalokay. Curiously, whilst these modernist was not only about its location in the city but also

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 mosques were being built as symbols of optimism its architecture. The mimicry of Ottoman classicism regarding modernist nation building in Islamic emerges here as an architectural idiom of nationalist societies, the Kocatepe project was criticised by conservatism negotiated with the state. As I have nationalist conservative circles. Although these criti- discussed above, the imperial image of the sixteenth cisms were not raised vociferously against the DP century presented the perfect combination of nation government, they gained impetus after the coup in and Islam, fitting well with the representation of the 1960. Perceived as a state project representing the powerful state. For the nationalist conservative reconciliation of Islam and national identity in the imagination, this image was nostalgic: it longed for 1950s, the mosque assumed a new representation the golden age of the nation but with an awareness after the coup. Now, it was identified with the mili- that the moment had long gone. Thus, nostalgia is a tary intervention within the nationalist conservative discursive effect of architectural mimicry; it reflects imagination and understood as yet another symbol awareness regarding its failure as a representation. of radical modernism. Whilst the mosque had If we remember Bhabha’s definition of mimicry as already become an ideological signifier, its architec- the colonised’s attempt to imtate the colonial, the ture was assuming an ideological content for the result is ‘almost the same but not quite’: mimicry 329

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The reinforced concrete structures imitating the Figure 3. Kocatepe forms of stone architecture of the sixteenth Mosque dominating the skyline of Ankara century, silently confirms their inferiority in relation (photograph by 33 to the originals they are imitating. Mehmet Özer). Nevertheless, the question we should ask is why mimic the Ottoman mosque instead of inventing some other architectural idiom? If we look at the global scene regarding mosque architecture, it is possible to observe a certain shift in the late 1960s. As I have stated above, modernist interpret- ations of traditional mosque forms were embraced by both secular modernist states such as Egypt and Indonesia, and Islamic modernist ones such as Malaysia and in the 1950s and 60s. However, the end of the 1960s witnessed the decline of the secular nationalist governments in the post-colonial world and the rise of what would later be called the ‘Islamic revival’.34 The disappoint- ment of the Arab-Israeli War in 1967, disillusion- ment with nationalist governments and the

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 suppression of left-wing movements within the Cold War context led to the rise of Islam both as an oppositional movement and an instrument for constanly troubles the coloniser’s authority by mini- right-wing governments.35 mising its difference and simultaneously fails the It is striking to see that mosque architecture also colonised’s capacity for fully assuming the identity distanced itself from modernism and turned to of the coloniser. In a similar fashion, what it at searching for identities in specific cultural contexts. stake in the case of mimicking classical Ottoman In the Islamic post-colonial world, the mosque as a mosque architecture is the desire of the nationalist- national symbol was stylised with reference to ima- conservative subject to imitate the glory of the gined pre-colonial identities. Examples of this kind imperial image. Although replication is achieved are the King Abdullah Mosque in Amman (1982– visually, there is an essential failure here. What 1989), King Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca makes the classical Ottoman mosques historically (1986–1993) and the University of Indonesia monumental is not their size but their innovative Mosque in Depak (1987).36 Moreover, local archi- achievements in terms of construction techniques. tectural features began to circulate and led to the 330

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey Bülent Batuman

emergence of trans-national combinations as seen in anxiety of losing the glory of the Ottoman past the examples of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz directed itself to the modernist mosque as soon Mosque in Shah Alam, Selangor (1974–1988) and as it emerged as an intended national symbol. the International Islamic University Central Mosque Although the modernist mosque design of Kocatepe in Chittagong, built in the late 1990s. In this was approved and even proudly embraced by the regard, so-called Islamic revivalism found its architec- Democrats in the 1950s, it was re-presented as an tural expression in ‘re-Orientalism’, which totalised alien condition after the military intervention in mosque architecture and supported the idea that 1960. In other words, the emergence of alternative there is one whole entity called Islam.37 Examples architectural idioms was blocked by the nationalist of such essentialism can be observed in Sadat’s conservative imagination, culminating in the Egypt, Suharto’s Indonesia, Mahathir’s Malaysia architectural mimicry of sixteenth-century mosque and Zia-ul-Hak’s Pakistan. In these Islamic countries, architecture.39 states gradually increased the influence of Islam as a Architectural mimicry as displayed in Kocatepe cultural means to promote the dominance of ‘Islam Mosque turned the classical Ottoman mosque into in nation’. Such a strategy for Islamic nation building a discursive referent. The General Directorate of found its reflection in state-sponsored mosques Foundations, the republican institution responsible assuming traditional forms and features.38 In cases for the operations of centuries-old endowments, such as Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Morocco, provided blueprints in different sizes (published in where dynastic continuity was at stake, this 1973) to guide the local production of mosques approach was already dominant, even if there across the country. This lowered costs (obviating

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 were cases of modernist mosques sponsored by architectural fees) but also significantly reduced the private patrons. chance of alternative designs being executed. This Although there is a parallel with the post-colonial new discursive referent even generated a new his- examples above, the absence of a colonial past in toriography. The Directorate of Religious Affairs the Turkish case creates an important divergence. published an album for the 50th anniversary of the The nationalist conservative imagination in Turkey, republic, which claimed to represent the mosque similarly to right-wing discourses in different cultural architecture of the republican period.40 Whilst the contexts, envisages a glorious past and seeks revival- album contained a selection of 314 mosques out ism in cultural domains. Yet, in the Turkish case, the of the 30, 000 built in that fifty-year period, it absence of a colonial encounter led to the failure of excluded the small number of modernist mosques. conscious contemplation regarding architectural forms until the Kocatepe Mosque. This was the The rise of political Islam as an independent reason for the almost mechanical continuity of force mosque building in terms of architecture in the Turkey experienced another military coup in 1980. republican period. The hostility triggered by the The main objective of the coup was to suppress 331

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the growing socialist movements; Islam was seen as Figure 4. Architectural a major instrument towards this end and the blueprints provided by the Directorate of mosque, unsurprisingly, as the utmost symbolic Religious Affairs for means. For instance, it was decided to build an mosque building Islamic centre with the second largest mosque in (source, Directorate of Ankara at the Middle East Technical University, a Religious Affairs). hotbed of socialist student organisations, as early as 1981.41 In the same year, the deadlocked con- struction of Kocatepe Mosque was handed over to the Turkish Foundation of Religious Affairs, which was established as a non-profit organisation to support the Directorate of Religious Affairs in 1975 and was granted tax exemption in 1978. Soon after the transfer of the construction work to the Foundation, coup’s leader, Kenan Evren, visited the construction site and stressed the importance of fin- ishing the mosque at once.42 With the military regime prioritising the mosque, a construction company was established by the Foundation in 1983. This approach proved successful and the

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 mosque was finished in 1987.43 After the inauguration of Kocatepe Mosque, an The constant interplay between the nationalist con- ambitious project for building large-scale mosques servative worldview and the state enabled the exploi- was undertaken. The Foundation supported the tation of conservative—if not Islamic—demands for construction of monumental mosques in Istanbul, the regulation of cultural life as means of advancing Maltepe (1988), Adana (1988), (1988) and social control by the state. However, the equilibrium (1988), all of which were finished within between popular demands along Islamic lines and the next decade. These mosques were intended the states’ intention to use Islam as a means of to be the largest in their respective cities social control was soon broken down to the advan- (Maltepe Mosque being the largest in the Anato- tage of the former with the end of the Cold War lian side of Istanbul). Moreover, the Foundation and the increasing influence of neo-liberalism. Islam prepared new blueprints for smaller mosques to began to assume a global identity as a populist assist local citizens in building them (Fig. 4). Need- response to neo-liberalism across the Third World. less to say, all of these were replicas of classical With the dismantling of welfare mechanisms, Ottoman mosques. Islamic networks of solidarity, successfully deployed 332

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey Bülent Batuman

by the Ikhwanul Muslimin [‘Muslim Brotherhood’]in However, before discussing the AKP era, it is the Middle East, began to be more influential than necessary to consider the growing influence of the ever. Especially where authoritarian regimes were Foundation of Religious Affairs, which proved to marked by corruption and failure to maintain be a powerful financial tool for religious work and popular consent, political Islam rose as the major particularly mosque building. While the Foundation oppositional power. undertook the construction of ‘monumental A similar process occurred in Turkey. Emerging for mosques’ in the major cities in the late 1980s, an the first time as an independent political force, the unexpected development drastically changed Islamist opposition broke away from the nationalist Turkish foreign policy and significantly broadened conservative elements and developed a radical cri- the Foundation’s functions. The collapse of the tique against the status quo. The Islamists gradually Soviet Union and the emergence of Turkic states in expanded their popular base with successive elec- Central Asia were seen as an opportunity by the toral victories, especially in the local government, Turkish political establishment. Turkey was the first taking over the local administrations of the three country to recognise these new states formally and major cities in 1994. Although I will not go into trade relations were quickly established. Such a the details, what is crucial is the transformation of move towards establishing close ties with these the Islamist movement in the late 1990s. This trans- new-born nations rested on an optimistic idea that formation was a result of, on the one hand, military Turkey could become the leader of the ‘Turkic intervention in 1997 and, on the other, experience world’, and the Foundation became a major tool in in local and central governments leading them to developing cultural influence abroad. With the

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 reconciliation with the market if not with the state. emergence of new territories in which to build In 2001, the Islamists split into two factions. mosques, the funds allocated to mosque building While the older generation maintained the radical considerably increased after 1990.45 Although the Islamist discourse of the 1990s, the younger gener- Foundation had already begun working in countries ation led by Erdog˘ an established the Justice and with significant populations of Turkish migrants, Development Party (AKP). The AKP broke away from such as Germany and Australia, the newly indepen- the anti-capitalist, anti-Western discourse and dent Turkic states were quite different. Now the embraced an agenda of democratisation in the face audience was not a diasporic community of of a constant threat from the military. From then on, Turkish citizens, but whole nations-in-building, ima- the party strengthened its hegemony through the gined as an extension of the Turkish nation.46 zealous fulfillment of neo-liberal market demands Although the Turkish state was eager to organise and a populist welfare system utilising Islamic social the Turkic states around an ethnic identity, this strat- networks. The Islamist opposition was absorbed egy soon proved unsuccessful since the new repub- into the system, which was a ‘passive revolution’ in lics rejected Turkey’s pan-Turkism. In the following Gramscian terms.44 decade, the focus of foreign policy regarding 333

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Central Asia changed, with an emphasis on Islam the term ulus in the 1930s to define the secular under the AKP.47 This shift in the way of looking nation, the ideologues of the AKP use millet,a at the peoples of Central Asia is not merely a stra- term of Arabic origin implying a community of tegic manoeuvre but an overall alteration of the defi- shared religion. Although the term has been used nition of the nation. After 2009, and especially with in the twentieth century, especially by nationalist the victory speech of Prime Minister Erdog˘ an in 2011 conservative intellectuals as a reaction to linguistic quoted previously, the AKP has altered the Turkish Turkification, the reference to millet by the AKP is foreign policy along Islamist lines. Whilst some significantly different. The millet is now envisaged authors label the new foreign policy of the AKP as through ‘self-Othering’: denoting a majority which ‘Neo-Ottomanism’, others argue instead that this is had been oppressed by the elite minority throughout a ‘Pan-Islamist’ approach.48 As this debate is republican history. The attempt to rebuild the nation beyond the scope of this paper, it is sufficient to as a millet also inevitably made use of the mosque. point out that the advancement of architectural While 1,000 new mosques are built each year, mimicry gains a new meaning within this context. older mosques without a dome and a are Whilst it represents ‘Islam in nation’ domestically, it torn down and replaced with larger Ottoman repli- emerges as a signifier of ‘nation in Islam’ globally. cas. In addition, urban regeneration projects in Clearly, in the AKP’s vision, what is at stake is not squatter areas propose new residential environ- a nation, but the nation-in-Islam. Moreover, the ments which always include mosques. The Mass existence of extremist Islamic movements in Housing Administration built 480 mosques Central Asia made the Turkish organisation for Reli- between 2005 and 2013 along with 600,000

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 gious Affairs as a secular and state-controlled mech- housing units.50 This means the creation of new resi- anism a preferable choice as contrasted with Saudi dential areas designed with their mosques as key influence in the region.49 In this context, with social spaces in their organisation. Islam as the central element in the AKP’s active The Directorate of Religious Affairs, together with foreign policy in the Muslim world, the Ottoman the Turkish Foundation of Religious Affairs and the mosque emerged as an authentic brand. Foundation for Religious and Social Services,51 Nevertheless, the idea of ‘nation in Islam’ also res- have been organising campaigns to promote the onates at home and invokes the redefinition of the mosque as a social space and encouraging imams nation. As illustrated with Erdog˘ an’s dedicatory to become the imams ‘of neighbourhoods instead inscription on the Mimar Sinan Mosque quoted at of mihrabs’. The new mosques have expanded pro- the beginning of this paper, the presentation of grammes with spaces for social and cultural activi- Turkishness and Islam as qualities of the same ties, and imams are even allowed to improvise with entity is significantly different from the republican the socialisation of the mosque space.52 The govern- definition referring to a secular and ethnically homo- ment also utilised the mosque as an environment to geneous body. Whilst the Kemalist state invented pacify, if not assimilate differences to create the 334

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harmonious Islamic millet. The two major social Within this context, where even the Directorate groups targeted through these policies were the was seeking new architectural idioms, it is curious Kurds (with an estimated population of 12 million) to see that the state-sponsored monumental and the Alevis, a large religious minority of 10–15 mosques reproduce the same image as illustrated million.53 by the Mimar Sinan Mosque. The question we have to ask here is this: how should we interpret Mimicry beyond nostalgia: the ideological architectural mimicry beyond nationalist conserva- simulacrum tive nostalgia; what does it represent under the con- The freedom enjoyed by religious groups during the ditions of stylistic heterogeneity? I will answer this rule of the AKP also contributed to the emergence of question after discussing two recent controversial the mosque as a signifier of differences. For the first mosque projects. time, mosque architecture outside architectural As I have mentioned earlier, building a mosque in mimicry began to receive popular approval. Taksim has been a major component of Islamist ima- Although there were small examples before, the ginary. Erdog˘ an was a fervent supporter of the idea 2000s witnessed the rise of heterogeneity in archi- during his time in office as the Mayor of Istanbul and tectural vocabulary with the emergence of devout brought the issue onto the agenda once again after patrons (Fig. 5). The stylistic range of new mosques the 2011 general elections.56 In May, 2012, Ahmet included modernist examples as well as historicist Vefik Alp, an architect politically affiliated with the interpretations of traditional mosques and Nationalist Action Party (MHP) put forward a schemes imported from different cultural contexts. mosque proposal for Taksim.57 Claiming that he

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 Here, it is interesting to note that such heterogen- was hired by the Taksim Mosque Building Society eity also legitimised the hitherto marginal lineage two years earlier, Alp criticised the tradition of of modernist mosque design and a new generation ‘fake replicas of the 500 years old grand architecture of prominent Turkish architects (such as Nevzat of the Master Architect Sinan’ and argued that his Sayın and Emre Arolat) identified the opportunity ‘avant-garde approach’ would ‘ease the [secularists’] to put forward innovative proposals.54 Whilst opposition to a new mosque in Taksim’.58 According these experiments with mosque architecture to him, his proposal signifies ‘a meaningful break- compose a small portion of ongoing production, through through the delicate interpretation of they triggered debates outside the architectural modern mosque architecture while preserving the community for the first time. Through a number symbolic values of the mosques of the Ottoman of symposia, the Directorate sought alternatives to times’. Labelling the project not as Taksim Mosque the innumerable poor imitations of classical but ‘Mosque of the Republic & Museum of Reli- mosques, but without damaging the association gions’, Alp sought to represent the cosmopolitan with the Ottoman past and its glorious symbolisa- identity of Istanbul through the juxtaposition of tion of millet.55 non-Islamic faiths and republican secularism. Con- 335

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on top of a platform with Y-shaped supports resem- Figure 5. S¸ akirin bling bodies raising their arms to the sky. Viewed Mosque in Istanbul (2009; photograph by from the top, the composition revealed a crescent Benno Thoma, courtesy and a star, the elements of the Turkish flag. The of Zeynep Fadillioglu sphere, according to the designer, echoed the rising Design). sun during daytime and the rising moon at night. The only minaret was finished not with a traditional cone but with a group of crescents referring to the traditional Ottoman ensign, which is also used as an emblem by the MHP. The Museum of Religions, which was to be located in the basement, comprised three floors in which Judaism, Christianity and Islam were arranged on each floor, with this particular order of ‘ascendancy’, privileging Islam over the others. Alp’s proposal was an attempt simultaneously to overcome political conflict around the controversy over a mosque in Taksim and professional debates around mosque design, dismissive of classical repli- cas. The design proposed to replace mimicry with a

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 post-modern strategy substituting traditional icono- graphy with symbolic articulations. This proposal taining spaces for worship by Christians and Jews, as should be seen as an effort to achieve a contempor- well as a library, this project suggested creating a ary idiom for nationalist conservatism, re-balancing programmatic association of religions. Moreover, nationalism and Islam with reference to the global carefully arranged drawings presented the proposed heterogeneity in mosque architecture. Nevertheless, mosque in communication with the historical Aya the project was rejected by Erdog˘ an for being ‘too Triada Church and the Republican Monument modern’.59 Almost a year later, in April, 2013, Alp (Fig. 6). announced that work was in progress on modified In this proposal, the space for worship was versions following suggestions by the Prime Minister designed as a spherical glass dome, covered by a conveyed indirectly. In September, he published the self-supporting structure composed of an irregular revised project, in which the most visible change was mesh, rising from behind the historical Maksem the removal of the multiple crescents on the minaret: (water distribution chamber). The sphere was situated although the new proposal had been submitted to 336

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Figure 6. Ahmet Vefik Alp’s mosque proposal for Taksim (courtesy of Alp Architects); note the Aya Triada Church in the background.

the Prime Minister, there was no sign of a positive professionals, questioning both the legitimacy of response.60 such a colossal mosque and the reliability of the On 29th May, 2012, the 559th anniversary of the Competition, whilst leading scholars declined to

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 conquest of Istanbul, Erdog˘ an announced that a join the jury. The results of the Competition further monumental mosque was to be built on Çamlıca fuelled the debates since no project was awarded hill: ‘among the largest in the world and visible first prize and two were awarded second prizes. from everywhere in the city’.61 This district is One of the second-prize winners featured an closely associated with Erdog˘ an himself, since his Ottoman replica while the other was a modernist residence is located there. Two months later an scheme: and the Prime Minister himself decided architectural competition was announced for the that the former was to be executed. Here, it is mosque and participants were given only forty necessary to discuss both of the projects, since days to submit their proposals. The Competition they represent the two seemingly irreconcilable brief explicitly asked the entrants to come up with trends in Turkish mosque architecture. proposals ‘reflecting Ottoman-Turkish architectural Two young architects, Süleyman Akkas¸ and Nihal style, connecting tradition to the future and adding S¸ enkaya Akkas¸, defined their modern proposal as a an original link to our culture’s chain of tradition’ statement illustrating ‘why the selected project [a [emphases added].62 The Competition was boy- replica] should not be constructed and showing cotted by the Chamber of Architects and prominent the right way of designing in the light of 21st- 337

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century contemporary architecture’.63 The explana- form and started afresh on the basis of the func- tory note accompanying the project’s illustrative tional requirements of prayer and a contemporary material argued that centrality in Ottoman mosque interpretation of an urban landmark. plans was an outcome of the structural requirements The project actually chosen and currently under to create the particular monumental silhouette, and construction was also produced by a team of that contemporary technology made it possible to young architects. Designed by Hayriye Gül Totu create innovative envelopes overcoming structural and Bahar Mızrak, the proposal is almost a copy of necessities defining the central dome. Under these the Blue Mosque (Fig. 8). Against criticisms of circumstances, it is possible to create ‘a unified copying an existing mosque, the deisgners prayer hall uninterrupted with columns or arches’. responded that this was not an issue of imitation Hence, the designers proposed a vault-like shell but of style: ‘They think that our design is a Sinan comprising three sets of folded plates defining func- replica; but this is not a copy. This is a style.’64 tional differentiations within the building (Fig. 7). Accordingly, style was a matter of choice: ‘Some These shells enveloping each other referred to the prefer a contemporary modern style and what we etymology of the word cami [‘mosque’] meaning embrace is the Turkish-Islamic style … You cannot ‘embracing’ and ‘bringing together’. Arguing that question the style of a poet and ask “why do you the minaret has also ceased to serve as the high write epic poems?”’ Defining the dome, half- ground from which the call to prayer was per- domes, minarets and the courtyard as essential formed, they interpreted it as an urban symbol and elements of Turkish-Islamic tradition, the designers used it in a singular manner. The transparent argue that every mosque is inspired by another

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 mihrab wall was to be covered with timber shaders one. Thus, they claim that their use of existing designed in Ottoman patterns. mosques as a source is ‘not imitation or replication Hence the project responded to the requirement but inspiration through the continuity of tradition’. of the brief with a claim to present ‘reflections of Interestingly, the designers sought to include orig- the future in urban scale and those of tradition in inal elements to differentiate their work. In addition the human scale’. It is not hard to detect the resemb- to the six minarets, resembling the Blue Mosque, lence with Dalokay’s Kocatepe design here. they proposed a seventh octagonal ‘time minaret’ Although it was deemed quite radical in the on top of the s¸adırvan [‘ablution fountain’] at the 1950s, Dalokay’s proposal involved a contemporary centre of the courtyard, which essentially was a interpretation of the traditional mosque image with clock tower. In addition, the central dome in their the central dome and even its four minarets located proposal was unusually high; almost a full hemi- conventionally to accentuate the four corners of the sphere above the drum, a departure from the structure. Akkas¸ and Akkas¸, on the other hand, not rather flat Ottoman mosque domes. only proposed a technologically contemporary struc- Erdog˘ an asked for certain modifications to the tural system, but even questioned the traditional project, in consultation with a group of experts 338

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Figure 7. Second-prize winning project for Çamlıca mosque designed by Süleyman Akkas¸ and Nihal S¸ enkaya Akkas¸ (courtesy of SN Mimarlık). Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 339

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Figure 8. Çamlıca Mosque designed by Hayriye Gül Totu and Bahar Mızrak (source, I˙stanbul Cami ve Eg˘ itim- Kültür Hizmet Birimleri Yaptırma ve Yas¸atma Derneg˘ i).

from Istanbul Technical University and Mimar Sinan conference hall, a 250-person meeting hall, a University. The revisions were supervised by the Min- library, a museum, a 3, 500m2 exhibition hall and istry of Environment and Urbanism and the outcome a 3000-car parking garage. The museum is appropri- was proudly announced by the Minister. Accord- ately assigned to be a ‘Museum of Turkish-Islamic ingly, the seventh minaret was removed, the Art’. There is a web site for the mosque which pro- Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 central dome was flattened to resemble the vides detailed information on the project as well as Ottoman domes, the entrance to the courtyard the ongoing construction.66 According to the was emphasised with a Seljuk-style portal and the website the mosque is ‘built as an historical monu- proposed canopies shaped like reverse umbrellas ment’. At this size, the mosque will be the fifth bordering the terrace outside the courtyard were largest in the world in terms of enclosed floor replaced with a traditional Ottoman portico. That space and the largest if its open spaces are included. is, the revisions made by ‘experts’ following the sug- As these two cases illustrate, there exists an odd gestions of the Prime Minister were mainly aimed at situation wherein the Prime Minister’s personal making the mosque look more like classical Ottoman involvement in mosque architecture seems to deter- examples.65 Once completed, the new mosque will mine stylistic preferences. Although this is significant have a 72.5 metre-high dome with a diameter of for illustrating the concentration of political power in 34 metres and will accommodate 37, 500 worship- the hands of Erdog˘ an, what is important for our dis- pers. The whole complex will cover a site of 57 cussion is the meaning of architectural mimicry 000 m2 and include 10 classrooms, a 1,000-person within the current context. On the one hand, the 340

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architectural scene in Turkey is heterogeneous as ential in the Islamic world. Whilst the Ottoman never before, and does not prioritise mimicry any replica in relation to nationalist conservative nostal- more. On the other hand, the global setting has wit- gia acknowledged its failure as representation (the nessed the rise of Islam as a trans-national political longing for a lost golden age), the replica as simula- force compelling governments to negotiate their crum illustrates a self-aware disavowal of this failure. ways to establishing a consensus between Islamic In other words, what we have is the representation opposition and international world order, which of sixteenth-century Ottoman power; yet it is not made the representation of nationhood in its the subject of nostalgic yearning but a conscious relationship to Islam an essential topic. On the one deployment as an imperial(ist) image. This is a hand, a generalised and imagined ‘Middle East’ claim to authority of representation regarding and its ‘High Islamic’ architecture is gradually Islam as well. It addresses both the West and the coming to the fore.67 On the other hand, especially East, affirming the ‘othering’ of the Islamic world in cases where fundamentalist pressure threatens and attributing to itself a privileged status within it. existing establishments, governments seek other The replicated Ottoman mosque reconstructs the Islamic architectural idioms for reference. millet through the interpellation of citizens with the The success of Turkey’s AKP in developing a par- imperial image conjoining nation and Islam. Yet, ticular strand of Islamism harmonious with the this architectural idiom also functions as a recognisa- global market and the international world order ble image in the eyes of outsiders. What we find here makes it an alternative reference for trans-national is different from the re-Orientalism I have discussed Islam; a version compatible with the Western world above in relation to mosque architecture in the

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 and a claim to authenticity within the multitude of Islamic world. While re-Orientalism affirmed stylistic Islamic representations. Hence, it is not a coinci- plurality as representing variations of Islam, here dence to see that, aside from the endeavours of there is a persistent reference to Ottoman imagery the Directorate of Religious Affairs to export as an authentic sign linking the nation to Islam. It is Ottoman replicas (for instance the Tokyo Mosque, not that the architectural style of a ‘golden age’ is 1998-2000, and the Turkish-American Community reproduced to glorify the past. Rather, the simula- Center in Washington DC, under construction), gov- crum is constructed in and for the present within ernments of various Islamic countries invite Turkish the multiplicity of architectural styles. What is at firms to build neo-Ottoman mosques.68 stake here is self-Orientalism as a conscious strategy Within this context, mimicry of the Ottoman to identify with the a-historical orientalist image and mosque emerges as a simulacrum representing the to utilise it as an instrument of power. Self-Oriental- ‘nation in Islam’; imagining the nation as a privileged ism inevitably refers to existing stereotypes which is component of global Islam. It is an instrument in crucial for the gaze of the ‘other’ to recognise. rebuilding ‘nation’ in the form of millet as well as Hence, the orientalised subject voluntarily assumes in an aggressive foreign policy aimed at being influ- this identity, only to utilise it as a brand. 341

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Conclusion ing of mimicry as a component of nationalist conser- Mosque architecture has been a political enterprise vative discourse, the replica as simulacrum operates throughout the twentieth century, especially for as an imperial image of identification. While it serves the nation states established in the Islamic world. the redefinition of the nation in the form of millet as Nation-building processes reflected varying levels a fusion of Turkishness and Islam internally, it of tension between modernist intentions and becomes a recognisable image abroad. The simula- Islamic identities. In the Turkish case, the mosque crum of the Ottoman mosque operates through was rejected as a national symbol throughout the self-Orientalism: it represents conscious identifi- early republican era. It was only in the post-war cation with the stereotype for the gaze of the years that it was deployed for representing national ‘other’ to recognise. identity; however, this attempt was influenced by The reproduction of the same architectural image complex power relationships between secularist within two different historical settings also provides state structure, government seeking reconciliation us with findings regarding architectural mimicry in with Islam and nationalist conservative worldview general. I have discussed earlier how mimicry has gaining grounds within the context of Cold been tackled particularly in post-colonial theory War geopolitics. The outcome was architectural and in architectural history. Whilst mimicry is mimicry of the Ottoman Empire in its heyday, defined as a performative act between the coloniser which would prevail throughout the following and the colonised, its key drive is the desire to appro- decades. Whilst architectural styles ranging from priate (at least a portion of) the authority rep- modernist experiments to historicist repetition were resented by the imitated original. This essential

Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 visible throughout the post-colonial Islamic world, mechanism is also valid in cases of importing moder- architectural mimicry prevailed as the dominant nist architectural forms and urban schemes across idiom in Turkey. the globe as well as the post-modern imitations of The mosque was utilised as a political instrument historical archetypes. In all of the cases what is at by the Turkish state in the 1990s to build cultural stake is the appeal to the authority of the original. influence in the post-Soviet world. This led to the Yet, mimicry indicates a double failure: it associates trans-national circulation of this particular idiom as the copy and the original, and simultaneously a representation of (Turkish) ‘nation in Islam’. acknowledges the difference between them. This, Although it was not effective as a pan-Turkist instru- in turn, results in the failure of the copy to become ment of foreign policy, it was taken up by the Isla- the original and the original to highlight its differ- mist AKP as a signifier of authenticity within the ence as superior to the copy (and in some cases, global variety of Islamic representations. This time, there is an intentional play of irony embracing this mimicry of the Ottoman mosque generated a simu- failure). lacrum representing the (privileged) nation in As I have argued above, the nostalgic effect pro- (global) Islam. Different from the nostalgic function- duced by the architectural mimicry of classical 342

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Ottoman mosques within the specific context of 3. Paul Rabinow, French Modern: Norms and Forms of the Cold War politics in Turkey fits this scheme. Social Environment (Cambridge, Mass., The MIT Press, However, the current use of the mimicry of 1989); Gwendolyn Wright, The Politics of Design in Ottoman mosque architecture operates in a signifi- French Colonial Urbansism (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1991); Mark Crinson, Empire Building: cantly different way. It is used as an ideological Victorian Architecture and Orientalism (London, Rou- simulacrum in Islamist politics, which in the tledge, 1996); Mark Crinson, Modern Architecture current Turkish context serves the fusion of and the End of Empire (Burlington, Ashgate, 2003). nation and Islam. In discursive terms, it is not poss- 4. Timothy Mitchell, Colonizing Egypt (Berkeley, Los ible to revert to essentialism due to the insur- Angeles, University of California Press, 1988). mountable gap between ethnic and religious 5. Thomas R. Metcalf, An Imperial Vision: Indian Architec- identities. Hence, the mimicry of Ottoman ture and Britain’s Raj (Berkeley, University of California mosque architecture serves as an ideological simu- Press, 1989); Mia Fuller, Moderns Abroad: Architec- lacrum disregarding the mismatch between Turk- ture, Cities, and Italian Imperialism (London, Routle- ishness and Islam. Insofar as it is utilised as an dge, 2007). ‘ effect of political power, the classical Ottoman 6. Homi K. Bhabha, Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambiva- lence of Colonial Discourse’,inThe Location of mosque loses its authority as original. In its Culture (London, New York, Routledge, 1994), p. 126. current circulation, the Ottoman mosque image 7. Bernd Nicolai, Moderne und Exil: Deutschsprachige is not the copy of the ‘real’ (sixteenth-century) Architekten in der Türkei 1925–1955 (Berlin, Verlag ‘ ’ examples but becomes true within the current für Bauwesen, 1998); Sibel Bozdog˘ an, Modernism global spatio-temporality. and Nation Building: Turkish Architectural Culture in Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 the Early Republic (Seattle, University of Washington Acknowledgement Press, 2001). An earlier version of this article was presented at the 8. These transfers were not simple processes of importa- tion but ‘translations’ contingent upon uneasy nego- Writing the Global City: A Tribute to Professor tiations: see, Esra Akcan, Architecture in Translation: Anthony D. King Conference, Binghamton Univer- Germany, Turkey, and the Modern House (Durham, sity, 4th- 5th October, 2013. NC, Duke University Press, 2012). 9. Meltem Ö. Gürel, ‘Architectural mimicry, spaces of Notes and references modernity: the Island Casino, Izmir, Turkey’, The 1. ‘Bu caminin önemli bir özellig˘ i var!’, Haberturk (21/07/ Journal of Architecture, 16, 2 (2011), pp. 165–190. 12); [accessed 25/08/14], http://www.haberturk.com/ 10. Sharon Zukin, The Cultures of Cities (Cambridge, ramazan/haber/760529-bu-caminin-onemli-bir-ozelligi- Mass., Blackwell, 1995); Michael Sorkin, ed., Variations var- on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End 2. ‘Bas¸bakan’dan üçüncü balkon konus¸ması’, Hürriyet of Public Space (New York, Hill and Wang, 1992). (13/06/11); [accessed 25/08/14], http://www.hurriyet. 11. This trend was famously given theoretical form by Fre- com.tr/gundem/18015912.asp deric Jameson as ‘pastiche’: Frederic Jameson, ‘Post- 343

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modernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism’, 19. Tanıl Bora, Türk Sag˘ ının Üç Hali: Milliyetçilik, Muhafa- New Left Review, 146 (July–August, 1984), pp. 53–92. zakarlık, I˙slamcılık (Istanbul, Birikim, 2009). 12. For post-modern historicism in residential architecture, 20. Yüksel Tas¸kın, Anti-Komünizmden Küreselles¸me Kars¸ı- see Sibel Bozdog˘ an, ‘Vernacular Architecture and Iden- tlıg˘ ına Milliyetçi Muhafazakar Entelijansiya (Istanbul, tity Politics: The Case of the “Turkish House”’, Tra- I˙letis¸im, 2007). ditional Dwellings and Settlements Review, 7 (Spring, 21. I˙smail Hami Danis¸mend, ‘Ayasofya’nın Laiklig˘ i’, Milli- 1996), pp. 7–18; Nuray Özaslan, Aysu Akalın, Christo- yet, 2 (21/02/52); I˙smail Hami Dans¸mend, ‘Ayasofya pher Wilson, ‘Postmodernism and Consumer Culture: Meselesi’, Milliyet, 2 (14/07/52). Image-production via Residential Architecture in post- 22. ‘An ıtlar Derneg˘ i Taksimde Bir Cami Yaptırıyor’, Milliyet 1980s Turkey’, African Journal of Business Manage- (24/03/55). ment, 5 (2011), pp. 2597–2606; Sibel Bozdog˘ an, 23. Oktay Ekinci, Bütün Yönleriyle Taksim Camisi Belgeseli Esra Akcan, Turkey: Modern Architectures in History (Istanbul, Çagdas¸ Yayınları, 1997), pp. 13–14. (London, Reaktion Books, 2012), pp. 223–233. For 24. I borrow the term from Yalman, who has used it in a an example of theme parks based on architectural different context: see, Galip L. Yalman, ‘Tarihsel Bir replicas, see I˙pek Türeli, ‘Modeling Citizenship in Perspektiften Türkiye’de Devlet ve Burjuvazi: Rölativist Turkey’s Miniature Park’, Traditional Dwellings and Bir Paradigma mı Hegemonya Stratejisi mi?’, Praksis, Settlements Review, 17 (2006), pp. 55–69. 5 (Winter, 2002), pp. 7–23. 13. Bianca Bosker, Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry 25. General Directorate of Press, Büyük Ankara’ya Dog˘ ru in Contemporary China (Hong Kong, University of (Ankara, General Directorate of Press, 1957). Hawaii Press, 2013). 26. Bülent Batuman, The Politics of Public Space: Domina- 14. H. Bahbha, ‘Of Mimicry and Man’, op. cit., pp. 122–3. tion and Appropriation in and of Kızılay Square (Saar- 15. Erik Jan Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History (London, brücken, VDM Verlag, 2009); Ali Cengizkan, “The Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 New York, I. B. Tauris, 2007), pp. 166–205. production of a mise en scène for a nation and its sub- 16. For a discussion of the selective approporiation and jects: Clemens Holzmeister et al. in the Ministries incorporation of the Ottoman past into the the nation- Quarter for Ankara, Turkey’, The Journal of Architec- building process see, Nicholas Danforth, ‘Multi-Purpose ture, 15, 6 (2010), pp. 731–770. Empire: Ottoman History in Republican Turkey’, Middle 27. ‘Bas¸vekil Ankara Camii için 100 bin lira teberru etti’, Eastern Studies, 50 (2014), pp. 655–678. Milliyet, 1 (15/02/57). 17. For a recent study of Sinan in English, see, Gülru Neci- 28. For details of the design see, Selim˙ Iltus¸, Nazif Top- pog˘ lu, The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the çuog˘ lu, ‘Kocatepe Camii Muamması’, Mimarlık, 135 Ottoman Empire (London, Reaktion Books, 2005). For (1976), p. 67; Jale N. Erzen, Aydan Balamir, ‘Contem- the invention of Sinan as a nationalist myth, see, porary Mosque Architecture in Turkey’, in, Ug˘ ur Tanyeli, ‘Mimar Bireyin Sahte Tarihi ve Sinan’,in I. Serageldin, J. Steele, eds, Architecture of the Con- Mimarlıg˘ ın Aktörleri: Türkiye 1900–2000 (Istanbul, temporary Mosque (London, Academy Editions, Garanti Galeri, 2007), pp. 34–39. 1996), pp. 100–117; Michael E. Meeker, ‘Once There 18. Fikret Karaman, ‘The Status and Function of the PRA in was, Once There wasn’t: National Monuments and the Turkish Republic’, The Muslim World, 98 (2008), p. Interpersonal Exchange’, in, S. Bozdog˘ an, R. Kasaba, 286. eds, Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in 344

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey Bülent Batuman

Turkey (Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1997), ing the mosques mentioned, see I˙smail Serageldin, pp. 157–191; I˙mdat As, ‘The Digital Mosque: A New James Steele, eds, Architecture of the Contemporary Paradigm in Mosque Design’, Journal of Architectural Mosque (London, Academy Editions, 1996); Martin Education, 60 (2006), pp. 54–66. Frishman, Hasan-Uddin Khan, eds, The Mosque: 29. ‘Caminin Minaresi Füzeye Benzetildi’, Milliyet,1–2 (19/ History, Architectural Development & Regional Diver- 01/65. sity (New York, Thames and Hudson, 1994); Renata 30. Hüsrev Tayla, the designer of the final version, claimed Holod, Hasan-Uddin Khan, eds, The Mosque and the in a later interview that while he was working on a Modern World: Architects, Patrons and Designs since ‘contemporary’ proposal for the competition, he the 1950s (New York, Thames and Hudson, 1997). turned to classical mosque architecture after reading 37. The deployment of Orientalism by the Orientals has a newspaper article mentioning that the authorities been discussed as ‘re-Orientalism’ and ‘self-Oriental- desired ‘something similar to Süleymaniye’: see ism’ by different authors: see, for instance, Lisa Lau, Emine Merdim Yılmaz, ‘Hüsrev Tayla ile Söyles¸i: Koca- ‘Re-Orientalism: The Perpetration and Development tepe Camisi’ni Yaptım ama Bu Hiçbirinin Kopyası of Orientalism by Orientals’, Modern Asian Studies, Deg˘ il’, Arkitera.com (2009); [accessed 25/08/14], 43 (2009), pp. 571–590; Lisa Lau, Ana Cristina http://v3.arkitera.com/s170-kocatepe-camisini-yaptim- Mendes, Re-Orientalism and South Asian Identity Poli- ama-bu-hicbirinin-kopyasi-degil.html tics: The Oriental Other Within (London, New York, 31. For a quantitative comparison of the two mosques, see Routledge, 2011); Koichi Iwabuchi, ‘Complicit Exoti- I˙mdat As, ‘The Digital Mosque’, op. cit. cism: and Its Other’, The Australian Journal of 32. For a discussion of the professional reactions to both of Media & Culture, 8 (1994), pp. 49–82; Plamen the proposals for Kocatepe Mosque, see S. Bozdog˘ an K. Georgiev, Self-Orientalization in South East Europe and E. Akcan, Turkey, op. cit., pp. 197–200. (Wiesbaden, Springer VS, 2012). Below, I will differen- Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 33. It is crucial to mention a third approach in contempor- tiate between ‘re-Orientalism’ and ‘self-Orientalism’ to ary Turkish mosque architecture. Between modernist define the specificity of Turkey’s AKP. experiments and imitations of classical Ottoman 38. For a discussion of the negotiation between local and examples, a third way represented by the work of global through mosque architecture in Indone- Turgut Cansever was to reproduce the classical sia, see Abidin Kusno, ‘“The Reality of One-Which-is- mosque with its original construction techniques. Two”: Mosque Battles and other Stories’, Journal of Ibid., pp. 220-223. Architectural Education, 57 (2003), pp. 57–67. 34. Mandaville cautions that the use of the term should 39. The 1960s also saw the emergence of successful mod- not lead to the neglect of important historical continu- ernist mosque designs, albeit at very small scales. ities in the Islamic world: see Peter G. Mandaville, Amongst these are the mosque in Kınalıada (one of Global Political Islam (London, New York, Routledge, the Prince’s Islands) and the Etimesgut Mosque in 2007), p. 89. Ankara, built in 1964 and 1965 respectively. These 35. Ibid., pp. 49–95. two mosques were valued by architectural historians 36. The international literature on mosque architecture is as fine examples of modern mosque architecture: See mostly limited to formal analyses cataloguing examples J. N. Erzen, A. Balamir, ‘Contemporary Mosque Archi- historically and geographically. For information regard- tecture in Turkey’, op. cit. 345

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40. Directorate of Religious Affairs, 50 Yılda Dini Yapılar America and Australia: Directorate of Religious (Ankara, Directorate of Religious Affairs, 1974). Affairs, Yurtdıs¸ı Camiler Albümü (Ankara, Directorate 41. ‘Her Üniversiteye bir Cami’, Milliyet, 2 (28/01/86); of Religious Affairs, 1997). ‘“ODTÜ”den Rabıta’nın 210 Milyonuna “Hayır”’, Milli- 47. For instance, whilst the earlier Eurasian Islamic Council yet, 7 (24/03/87). (EIC) resolutions referred to the delegates as ‘represen- 42. Evren: “Büyük Eserleri Yas¸atacak Sanatkarlar Yetis¸tire- tatives of Turkic and Muslim communities’, the final ceg˘ iz”’, Milliyet, 8 (19/07/82). resolution of the seventh summit in 2009 referred to 43. Meanwhile, it was decided to build a mosque inside them as ‘representatives of Muslim countries and the National Assembly grounds in 1984. The job was societies of Eurasia that are connected by religious, his- assigned to Behruz Çinici (together with Can Çinici), torical and cultural ties’: Directorate of Religious the prominent Turkish architect who had recently Affairs, ‘VII. Avrasya I˙slam S¸ urası Sonuç Bildirisi’ (15/ designed the Public Relations Building of the Assembly. 05/09); [accessed 26/08/14], http://www.diyanet.gov. The architects produced a modernist scheme interpret- tr/tr/icerik/vii-avrasya-islam-surasi-sonuc-bildirisi/6208. ing the traditional dome with a stepped pyramid and The EIC was an initiative of the Turkish state and the minaret with a poplar tree. Although this proposal organised by the Directorate for the first time in was also met with scepticism from the right-wing 1995. press, the design was praised by the architectural com- 48. For the former view, see Michael Rubin, ‘Shifting munity and it was awarded the Aga Khan Award in Sides?: The Problems of Neo-Ottomanism’, National 1995.The Parliament Mosque represents the epitome Review (10/08/04), http://www.meforum.org/628/ of the modernist mosque design tradition with its shifting-sides. For the latter, see Behlül Özkan, design quality as well as symbolic location inside the ‘Turkey, Davutoglu and the Idea of Pan-Islamism’, Sur- Parliament grounds which made it impossible to over- vival: Global Politics and Strategy, 56 (August–Septem- Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 look like the earlier examples of the 1960s. For a dis- ber, 2014), pp. 119–140. cussion on the significance of the Parliament Mosque 49. S¸enol Korkut, ‘The Diyanet of Turkey and Its Activities in Turkish architecture, see S. Bozdog˘ an, E. Akcan, in Eurasia after the Cold War’, Acta Slavica Iaponica, Turkey, op. cit., pp. 217–223. 28 (2010), pp. 117–139. 44. Cihan Tug˘ al, Passive Revolution: Absorbing the Islamic 50. The figures are taken from the web site of the Mass Challenge to Capitalism (Stanford, Stanford University Housing Administration (toki.gov.tr). Press, 2009). 51. The Foundation for Religious and Social Services was 45. Turkish Foundation of Religious Affairs, 20. Yılında originally established as ‘Tokyo Mosque Foundation’ Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı (Ankara, Turkish Foundation of in 1997. After the Foundation successfully finished Religious Affairs, 1995). the construction of the Tokyo Mosque, it was reorgan- 46. The Directorate published an album documenting the ised in 2003. See, Foundation for Religious and Social mosques built in this period: Directorate of Religious Services, Dini ve Sosyal Hizmetler Vakfı (Ankara, Affairs, Orta Asya Türk Cumhuriyetleri, Balkan-Kafkas Turkish Foundation of Religious Affairs, 2007). Ülkeleri Camiler ve Eg˘ itim Merkezleri Albümü 52. ‘Samsun’da 120 camide spor’, DHA (26/07/13); (Ankara, Directorate of Religious Affairs, 2003). An [accessed 26/08/14], http://www.dha.com.tr/samsunda- earlier publication included mosques built in Europe, 120-camide-spor_504143.html. 346

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey Bülent Batuman

53. The successful strategy emphasising the shared Islamic Compex (2011) which was also not built because it identity which helped improve relations with the Turkic did not have a dome. republics of Central Asia did not work with the highly 55. In 2005, the Directorate of Religious Affairs organised a politicised Kurdish movement. The Kurds responded panel on mosque architecture in collaboration with with an unprecedented action of civil disobedience. Bilkent University in Ankara. This was followed by a Thousands performed the Friday prayers outside the ‘Consultation Meeting on Mosque Projects’ convened mosques in 2011, in response to the government’s jointly by the Directorate and the Foundation for Reli- attempt to use the mosque as an instrument of assim- gious and Social Services on 10th-11th July, 2006. See, ilation. The Friday sermons were given in Kurdish and Foundation for Religious and Social Services, Cami Proje- the action was pursued in various Kurdish provinces. leri I˙stis¸are Toplantısı (Ankara, Foundation of Religious ‘“Sivil Cuma Namazı” Kılındı’, bianet.org (08/04/11); and Social Services, 2007). These endeavours at develop- [accessed 26/08/14], http://www.bianet.org/bianet/ ing a new architectural idiom for contemporary mosques siyaset/129155-sivil-cuma-namazi-kilindi. A similar culminated in a larger event in Istanbul in 2012, with the backlash was experienced with the Alevis: Alevism is title ‘First National Symposium for Mosque Architecture’, not recognised as a distinct religion but as a branch which could also be translated as the ‘first symposium for of Islam by the Directorate of Religious Affairs, there- national mosque architecture’. fore its shrines (Cemevi) are not officially accepted as 56. For a detailed discussion of the Taksim mosque, see temples. Whilst the Alevis demand official status for Bülent Batuman, ‘“Everywhere is Taksim”: The Politics the Cemevi, the government came up with an idea of Public Space from Nation-building to Neoliberal Isla- to build mosque-Cemevi complexes, with the claim mism and Beyond’, Journal of Urban History,41 that this would serve the association of believers. Con- (2015), pp. 881–907. struction of the first of these complexes began in an 57. ‘I˙s¸te Taksim Camisi!’, Arkitera.com (16/05/12); [accessed Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016 Alevi quarter in Ankara in September, 2013. It was 27/08/14], http://www.arkitera.com/haber/8200. perceived as an attempt to force the Alevis to attend 58. ‘Mosque of the Republic & Museum of Religions, Istan- the mosque and was met with a violent response. bul, Turkey’, http://alparchitects.com.tr/eng/proje_ See, ‘Alevi örgütlerinden ortak açıklama: Cami- detay.asp?id=27; [accessed 31/08/15]. cemevi projesi kabul edilemez’, SOL Portal (10/09/13); 59. ‘Erdog˘ an, Taksim Camisi projesini beg˘ enmedi’, Arki- [accessed 26/08/14], http://haber.sol.org.tr/devlet-ve- tera.com (28/06/12); [accessed 27/08/14], http:// siyaset/alevi-orgutlerinden-ortak-aciklama-cami-cemevi- www.arkitera.com/haber/8934/erdogan-taksim-camisi- projesi-kabul-edilemez-haberi-79400. projesini-begenmedi. 54. This is not to state that modernist schemes were 60. ‘Yeni Taksim Camii Bas¸bakan’ın Masasında’, Radikal easily implemented. For instance, Sayın’s mosque (22/09/13); http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/yeni_ design in Malatya, providing a contemporary taksim_camii_basbakanin_masasinda-1152005 interpretation of Seljuk mosque architecture, was 61. ‘I˙stanbul’a Dev Cami Geliyor’, Radikal (30/05/12, http:// cancelled while under construction by command of www.radikal.com.tr/politika/istanbula_dev_cami_geliyor- the Prime Minister, Erdog˘ an, since it lacked a 1089547 dome. Another case was the winning project of the 62. ‘I˙stanbul Çamlıca Camii Mimari Proje Yarıs¸ması’, competition for S¸ is¸li Halide Edip Adıvar Islamic Arkitera.com (23/07/12); [accessed 31/08/15], 347

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http://www.arkitera.com/yarisma/239/istanbul-camlica- 66. See http://www.istanbulcami.com/ camii-mimari-proje-yarismasi 67. A good example is the Putra Mosque in Putrajaya, the 63. Derya Yazman, ‘Ne Yapılması Gerektig˘ ini Göstermek new federal administrative centre of Malaysia, which I˙stedik’, Arkitera.com (26/11/12); [accessed 31/08/15], simultaneously refers to a mosque in Uzbekistan, http://www.arkitera.com/haber/11007/ne-yapilmasi-ger the Persian- of the Safavids and ektigini-gostermek-istedik. the minaret of the Sheikh Omar Mosque in 64. ‘Çamlıca’ya yapılacak cami taklit mi?’, Milliyet (16/11/ Baghdad. See, Sarah Moser, ‘Putrajaya: Malaysia’s 12); [accessed 31/08/15], http://www.milliyet.com.tr/ new federal administrative capital’, Cities, 27 (2010), camlica-ya-yapilacak-cami-taklit-mi-/gundem/gunde p. 292. mdetay/16.11.2012/1628040/default.htm 68. See, for instance, the˙ Imam el Buhari Mosque in Yeka- 65. ‘Erdog˘ an’ın Çamlıca’sı’, Arkitera.com (20/02/13); terinburg (2002) and the Ahmed Kadyrov Mosque in [accessed 27/08/14], http://www.arkitera.com/haber/ Grozny (2008). 12243/erdoganin-camlicasi. Downloaded by [Bilkent University] at 05:52 24 June 2016