‘TURKEY’S OWN SEPTEMBER 11’ A POLITICAL SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE NOVEMBER 2003 ISTANBUL BOMBINGS AS REFLECTED BY THE TURKISH PRESS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF THE MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY EL İF SABAHAT UYAR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION JULY 2007 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences ___________________ Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. ____________________ Prof. Dr. Ra şit Kaya Head of Department That is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. ___________________ Prof. Dr. Feride Acar Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Feride Acar (METU, ADM) ___________________ Prof. Dr. Ay şe Ayata (METU, ADM) ___________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen (METU, SOC) ___________________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Elif Sabahat Uyar Signature : iii ABSTRACT 'TURKEY’S OWN SEPTEMBER 11’ A POLITICAL SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE NOVEMBER 2003 ISTANBUL BOMBINGS AS REFLECTED BY THE TURKISH PRESS Uyar, Elif Sabahat M. S., Department of Political Science and Public Administration Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Feride Acar July 2007, 161 pages This thesis analyzes the Turkish press coverage of the bombings in Istanbul on November 15 and 20, 2003. The general tendencies of the Turkish press in presenting the events are analyzed and comparisons between the coverage by a number of selected Turkish dailies that are known to be affiliated with different political views are made. The specific presentations of the Istanbul bombings by different dailies is analyzed in the context of the political debates in Turkey as these are reflected by papers of varying political views. Moreover, the analysis of the press was used to interpret Turkish politics on such issues as anti- Americanism, attitudes towards the AKP government and Islamism with reference to the specific positioning of the different political camps in Turkey, on the issue of the November 2003 Istanbul bombings. Keywords: Istanbul Bombings, Terrorism in Turkey, Islamism in Turkey, Anti- Americanism in Turkey, Islam and Democracy iv ÖZ ‘TÜRK İYE’N İN 11 EYLÜL’Ü’ KASIM 2003 ISTANBUL SALDIRILARININ TÜRK BASININDAK İ YANSIMALARI SİYASET SOSYOLOJ İSİ AÇISINDAN B İR İNCELEME Uyar, Elif Sabahat Yüksek Lisans, Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Feride Acar Temmuz 2007, 161 sayfa Bu tez çalı şması 15 ve 20 Kasım 2003 tarihlerinde İstanbul’da gerçekle şen saldırıları, basına yansımaları açısından incelemektedir. Ulusal basının olayları yansıtmadaki genel e ğilimleri incelenmi ş ve farklı siyasal görü şlere ba ğlı oldu ğu bilinen gazetelerin olayları yorumlama biçimleri kar şıla ştırmalı olarak analiz edilmi ştir. Farklı gazetelerin İstanbul saldırılarını konula ştırma şekilleri Türkiye’deki güncel siyasi tartı şmalar ba ğlamında incelenmi ştir. Ayrıca, farklı siyasal kampların saldırılar ba ğlamında özgül konumlanı şları incelenerek, Türkiye siyaseti üzerine, anti-Amerikancılık, hükümete kar şı tavırlar ve Islamcılık gibi konularda saptamalarda bulunulmu ştur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Istanbul Saldırıları, Türkiye’de Terörizm, Türkiye’de İslamcılık, Türkiye’de Amerikan Kar şıtlı ğı, İslam ve Demokrasi v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Feride Acar for her tolerance and constructive criticisms throughout the research. I am particularly grateful to Assist Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen for his insight and precious advices during the research and for his contributions as an examining committee member. Without these two people’s support, this study would have never come to light. I would also like to thank my other examining committee member, Prof. Dr. Ay şe Ayata for her attention, careful reading and valuable contributions. I should also thank my dearest friends, İrem Yılmaz, Özlem Kaya, Zeynep Ba şak, Cem V. Özbayrak, Aygül Akma, Ay şegül Ke şkekçi, Burcu Saka, Beyhan Erkurt, Umut Soluno ğlu, Onur Can Ta ştan, Gülce Tarhan, M. Celil Çelebi, Atakan Büke and Gül Çorbacıo ğlu for their support and sincere encouragement, during the thesis writing process. I am also grateful to my brilliant officemates, Alaattin O ğuz and G. Alper Ata şer, for their patience and irreplaceable friendship. And special thanks to dear Gülseren Adaklı for providing me with valuable contributory material and information about the Turkish press and Beycan Mura for his interest and invaluable criticisms. I tried a lot, but I could not find appropriate words to express my thankfulness to Serkan Mercan. His support was of great importance to me. Finally, I would like to express my thankfulness to my family, to my parents Filiz and Melih Uyar, to my lovely aunt Berna Özbe, and to my brother and dear housemate Emre Uyar. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM.....................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................iv ÖZ.........................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................vi TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................vii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ……………………………..……………...………..1 1.1 Research Question …………………………………………..…….1 1.2 Relevant Literature ..……………………………..………………..7 1.3 Analysis and Argumentation ……………………………..…….....9 1.4 Plan of the Study……………………………...………….………15 2. KEY CONCEPTS: THEIR USAGE IN THE TURKISH CONTEXT……………………...18 2.1 Terrorsim………………..……………………………..…………18 2.2 Islamism …………………...……...…...…………….…………..23 2.3 Laicité, Secularism, Secularist versus Islamist ……..…......…….28 3. DEMOCRACY AND ISLAMISM IN TURKEY…………...….....…..34 3.1 Democracy and Islamism in Turkey………………..….……..…..35 3.1.1 Democracy in Turkey …………………….………..35 3.1.2 Islamism in Turkey …….……………..…...…...….43 3.2 Different Interpretations of Turkish Republican History................50 3.3 The Debate on the Relation between Islam and Democracy and Its Reflections on the Turkish Political Milieus………...…....54 4. NOVEMBER 2003 ISTANBUL BOMBINGS …………………...…..67 4.1 Events and Court Case …………….…………….....…………….67 4.1.1 Events……………………………………...……….67 4.1.2 Court Case ………………...….………....…………68 4.2 Public Responses …………….…………………….…………….69 4.2.1 International Responses……………..…..............…69 vii 4.2.2 National Responses ………….…………...………..70 5. GENERAL ANALYSIS OF THE NEWS COVERAGE OF EVENTS BY SELECTED TURK İSH DAILIES……………….………..………74 5.1 Mainstream-Popular Dailies...........................................................75 5.1.1 Pointing the Finger of Blame at al-Qaida……..…...76 5.1.2 ‘Turkey’s own September 11’: An International Issue………………………...…....79 5.1.3 The EU Process…………...………...……………...81 5.1.4 Erdo ğan: A Leader ……………………...…………83 5.1.5 The Turkish Model …………………………...……86 5.2 Islamist Dailies ...............................................................................88 5.3 Overview …………………………………….……..….…..……. 93 6. IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE NEWS AND COMMENTARIES ON NOVEMBER 2003 BOMBINGS IN SELECTED TURKISH DAILIES: COMPARISON OF THE REFLECTIONS IN DIFFERENT POLITICAL CAMPS ……………………………...………………...103 6.1 Cumhuriyet ……………….…………………………………….104 6.2 Anadolu’da Vakit …………...…………….……………………114 6.3 Zaman ………………………………………….……………….122 6.4 Radikal ……………………...…………………………….……131 6.5 Comparative Overview …...……………………………………137 7. CONCLUSION………………………………………........………….141 APPENDICES Appendix A: Some Caricatures in the Turkish Press……..…...…….146 REFERENCES..……………...…………..…………….………………….….156 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research Question In this study, the aim is to offer a critical analysis of the Turkish press coverage of November 2003 Istanbul bombings. First, the general tendencies of the Turkish press in presenting the events will be analyzed; then an attempt will be made to draw a comparison between the coverage of these events by a number of selected Turkish dailies that are known to be affiliated with different political worldviews. The Istanbul bombings were four truck bomb attacks carried out over two days, on November 15 and November 20, 2003. Their targets were two synagogues, the HSBC Bank and the British Consulate in Istanbul. The bombs killed 57 people including the top British official in Istanbul (Consul General Roger Short) and injured more than 700 others. The attacks were suicide bombings. The four suicide bombers and the other suspects so far connected to the bombings were Turkish citizens. Abu Hafz al-Masri Brigades, a group identified with Al-Qaida internationally, and a local group called IBDA-C claimed responsibility for both of the attacks. However, popular press and TV channels had immediately announced that IBDA-C’s claim has been dismissed by government officials and foreign experts who claimed that this is a minor group, which does not have the