THE FORMATION OF THE BOSNIAK NATION A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY AYÇA BERNA GÖRMEZ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DECEMBER 2013 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı Head of Department This 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/Arts/Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev Supervisor Prof. Dr. Ömer TURAN METU,HIST Prof. Dr. A. Nuri YURDUSEV METU, IR Doç Dr. Oktay TANSISEVER METU, IR iii I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Surname: Ayça Berna GÖRMEZ Signature: iv ABSTRACT THE FORMATION OF THE BOSNIAK NATION Görmez, Ayça Berna Supervisor: Prof. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev December, 2013 182 pages This study examines the process of the formation of Bosniak nation with references to the approaches to nationalism. In this study four approaches to nationalism, modernists, primordialists, perennialists and ethnosymbolists, are analyzed first and ethnosymbolist approach is taken as the basis of the study in evaluating the formation of the Bosniak nation due to the fact that ethnosymbolists put emphasis on formation of nation rather than nation-state and they argue that subjective elements such as myth of common ancestry, shared culture and values have great importance in constituting nation. It is argued that there are three turning points in the history of Bosnian Muslims that led to the formation of the Bosniak nation. These are Austro- Hungarian occupation of Bosnia in 1878, the recognition of Bosnian Muslims as a separate nationality in 1968 and Bosnian war between 1992 and 1995. In this study, these turning points and their relevance for the formation of nation is analyzed. Key Words: Bosnian Muslim, Bosniak, nation formation, Bosnia, ethnosymbolism, v ÖZ BOŞNAK MİLLETİNİN OLUŞUMU Görmez, Ayça Berna Danışman: Prof. Dr. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev Aralık, 2013 182 sayfa Bu çalışmada Boşnakların millet oluşum süreci milliyetçilik yaklaşımları üzerinden incelenmiştir. İlk olarak modern yaklaşım, primordial yaklaşım, perennial yaklaşım ve ethnosembolik yaklaşım incelenmiş ve daha sonra Boşnakların millet oluşum süreci ethnosembolist yaklaşım üzerinden anlatılmıştır. Ethnosembolist yaklaşımın seçilme sebebi bu yaklaşımı savunanların millet oluşum sürecinde sübjektif unsurlara önem vermeleridir. Ortak ata miti, paylaşılan kültür ve değerler gibi sübjektif unsurlar etnosembolik yaklaşımı benimseyenlere göre millet oluşum sürecinde büyük bir önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışmada Bosnalı Müslümanların millet olmasını sağlayan üç dönüm noktası olduğu savunulmaktadır. Bu dönüm noktaları Avusturya Macaristanın 1878’de Bosnayı işgal etmesi, 1968’de Bosnalı Müslümanların ayrı bir millet olarak tanınmaları ve 1992 ile 1995 arasında gerçekleşen Bosna savaşı olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu dönüm noktaları ve bu noktaların millet oluşum sürecindeki önemleri bu çalışma kapsamında incelenmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler:Bosnalı Müslümanlar, Boşnaklar, millet oluşum süreci, ethnosembolizm,Bosna vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM………………………………………………………………….……iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................. v TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………vi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................... 8 2.1. Modernist Approach to Nationalism ...................................................................... 10 2.2. Primordial Approach to Nationalism...................................................................... 15 2.3. Perennial Approach to Nationalism........................................................................ 18 2.4. Ethnosymbolist Approach to Nationalism .............................................................. 20 3. _Toc378527504HISTORY OF BOSNIA ................................................................. 27 3.1. General Framework of the Balkans .................................................................... 27 3.1.1 Arrival of the Slavs.................................................................................................... 28 3.2. Bosnia before Ottoman Rule – Medieval Bosnian State ..................................... 31 3.2.1. Religion .................................................................................................................... 32 3.3. Bosnia under Ottoman Empire ............................................................................ 34 3.3.1 Ottoman Rule in Bosnia ............................................................................................ 35 3.3.2. Occupation of Bosnia Herzegovina .......................................................................... 40 3.4. Bosnia-Herzegovina under Austro-Hungarian Rule ........................................... 41 3.5. Bosnia under Yugoslavia .................................................................................... 48 3.5.1. The Unification of the South Slavs .......................................................................... 49 3.5.2. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ........................................................... 52 3.5.3. Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia ................................................................ 56 3.6. The Dissolution of Yugoslavia ............................................................................ 61 3.6.1. The war and the End of Yugoslavia ......................................................................... 66 3.7. Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina ...................................................................... 72 4.THE FORMATION AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOSNIAK NATION .... 77 4.1. Reflections of the Millet system on the Subjects of the Ottoman Empire .......... 79 4.2. From Ethnic Category to an Ethnic Community ................................................. 83 vii 4.2.1. The Opposition of the Bosnian Muslim Elites between 1878-1909 ........................ 86 4.2.1.1. Opposition of the Muslim Landowners ................................................................ 88 4.2.1.2. Opposition of the Bosnian Religious Leaders ....................................................... 90 4.2.1.3. Muslim Intellectuals .............................................................................................. 93 4.2.2. The Emergence of First Muslim Political Party: Muslim National Organization .... 97 4.2.3. Manifestation of the Opposition Movements on the Emergence of Ethnic Community and on Nationalism Literature ..................................................................... 100 4.3. Development of Ethnic Consciousness ............................................................. 105 4.3.1. Contribution of the Party Politics to the Protection of the Ethnic Consciousness of Bosnian Muslims ............................................................................................................. 107 4.3.2. Intellectual Debates on the Future of Bosnian Muslims in the Interwar Period .... 110 4.3.2.1. Secular Reformists .............................................................................................. 111 4.3.2.2. Religious Reformists ........................................................................................... 114 4.3.2.3. Religious Revivalists .......................................................................................... 115 4.3.3. Bosnian Muslims in World War II ......................................................................... 117 4.3.3.1. Mladi Muslimani ................................................................................................. 119 4.3.4. National Recognition of Bosnian Muslims ............................................................ 121 4.3.5. Creating Future through Rediscovering the Past ................................................... 124 4.4. From Muslim to Bosniak: Structuring the Nationality and National Identity .. 129 4.4.1. Islamic Religious Community ............................................................................... 130 4.4.2. Secular Intellectuals ............................................................................................... 133 4.4.3. Religious Intellectuals ............................................................................................ 136 4.4.4. The Politics of the Party of Democratic Action and the Bosnian War .................. 139 4.4.5. Construction of the Nation and National Identity .................................................. 144 5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 152 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................