THE ESTABLISHMENT OF KEMALIST AUTOCRACY AND ITS REFORM POLICIES IN TURKEY by GAZI DOGAN B.A., University of Ankara, 2001 M.A., University of Ankara, 2004 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2016 Abstract Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was a nationalist leader and founder and first president of the republic of Turkey, still remains an important figure in the Turkish political and social landscape. Kemalist historiography, which is based on Mustafa Kemal’s six-day speech (Nutuk) in October 1927, emphasizes the foundation of the Republic as central to Turkish history. While this historiography emphasizes that Mustafa Kemal had an explicit plan during his modernization efforts, this dissertation will cover how Mustafa Kemal was incoherent in his actions and changed his discourses over and over again during the change of the political structure of Turkey. Beyond that, this study will suggest that Mustafa Kemal was an opportunist and pragmatist who utilized every single event to establish a Jacobin style autocracy. This research will discuss how Mustafa Kemal succeeded in using every opportunity, such as the Law of Supreme Commander Act in August 1921, the abolition of Sultanate in 1922, the establishment of Republic in 1923, the abolition of Caliphate in 1924, and the elimination of opposition in 1925, to establish his personal autocracy. In particular, the records of Assembly debates, not sufficiently used by Turkish historians, will be helpful to understand the creation of this personal autocracy. While Kemalist historiography credits Mustafa Kemal Ataturk with the original and unique conception of the social, legal, and educational reforms of the early Republican period, this dissertation argues that this approach is not balanced. Although the Kemalist historiography asserts that Mustafa Kemal and his legacy represent carrying out Enlightenment ideals in an obsolete society almost totally ignorant of these principles, the Kemalist modernization got a great inheritance from its predecessors, the Young Turks. Therefore, the Kemalist overstatement of an idealist figure of Mustafa Kemal is wrong in some degree. This dissertation aims to scrutinize the contribution of the Ottoman reformers and contradictions, mistakes, and overstatements of the Kemalist modernization project in social, legal, and educational areas by the help of wide primary sources which include official reports of the Grand National Assembly, the Republican Era archives and a mass of periodicals which were published in 1920s in Turkey. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF KEMALIST AUTOCRACY AND ITS REFORM POLICIES IN TURKEY by GAZI DOGAN B.A., University of Ankara, 2001 M.A., University of Ankara, 2004 A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2016 Approved by: Approved by: Co-Major Professor Co-Major Professor David Stone Michael Krysko Copyright GAZI DOGAN 2016 Abstract Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was a nationalist leader and founder and first president of the republic of Turkey, still remains an important figure in the Turkish political and social landscape. Kemalist historiography, which is based on Mustafa Kemal’s six-day speech (Nutuk) in October 1927, emphasizes the foundation of the Republic as central to Turkish history. While this historiography emphasizes that Mustafa Kemal had an explicit plan during his modernization efforts, this dissertation will cover how Mustafa Kemal was incoherent in his actions and changed his discourses over and over again during the change of the political structure of Turkey. Beyond that, this study will suggest that Mustafa Kemal was an opportunist and pragmatist who utilized every single event to establish a Jacobin style autocracy. This research will discuss how Mustafa Kemal succeeded in using every opportunity, such as the Law of Supreme Commander Act in August 1921, the abolition of Sultanate in 1922, the establishment of Republic in 1923, the abolition of Caliphate in 1924, and the elimination of opposition in 1925, to establish his personal autocracy. In particular, the records of Assembly debates, not sufficiently used by Turkish historians, will be helpful to understand the creation of this personal autocracy. While Kemalist historiography credits Mustafa Kemal Ataturk with the original and unique conception of the social, legal, and educational reforms of the early Republican period, this dissertation argues that this approach is not balanced. Although the Kemalist historiography asserts that Mustafa Kemal and his legacy represent carrying out Enlightenment ideals in an obsolete society almost totally ignorant of these principles, the Kemalist modernization got a great inheritance from its predecessors, the Young Turks. Therefore, the Kemalist overstatement of an idealist figure of Mustafa Kemal is wrong in some degree. This dissertation aims to scrutinize the contribution of the Ottoman reformers and contradictions, mistakes, and overstatements of the Kemalist modernization project in social, legal, and educational areas by the help of wide primary sources which include official reports of the Grand National Assembly, the Republican Era archives and a mass of periodicals which were published in 1920s in Turkey. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... xiiii Dedication ................................................................................................................................. xiviv Chapter 1 - Introduction: The Establishment of Kemalist Autocracy and its Reform Policies in Turkey……………………...…………………………………………………………………….. 1 Chapter 2- The Establishment of Kemalist Autocracy in Turkey……………..…………….….…31 2.1 Unity of Powers and the Supreme Commander Act of 1921: First Attempt to the Autocracy ………………………………………………………………………………………..40 2.2 Abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate …………………………………………………..64 2.2.1 The Ottoman Empire and Kemalists’ Loyalty to the Sultan at the First Stage of the Turkish War of Independence: A Captive Sultan ………………………….65 2.2.2 First Reactions Against to the Personality of the Sultan: A Coward Sultan who was the Puppet of the Invaders …………………………………………………...71 2.2.3 Strong Reactions to the Personality of the Sultan: A Traitor and Degenerated Sultan …………………………………………………………………………….73 2.2.4 End of the Sultanate ………………………………………………………..77 2.2.5 After the Abolition of the Sultanate ………………………………………..87 2.3 The Establishment of the Turkish Republic ……………………………………….....91 2.3.1 Towards to the Republic ……………………………………………….….93 2.3.2 Kemalist “Fait Accompli”: The Cabinet Crisis ………………………….....99 2.3.3 Birth of the Republic ………………………………………………….......101 2.3.4 After the Establishment of the Turkish Republic …………………………105 2.4 Abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate in March 1924 ………………………………...114 2.4.1 Historical Background of the Caliphate and the Ottoman Caliphate ……...115 viii 2.4.2 Kemalist Approach to the Office of Caliphate during the Turkish War of Independence …………………………………………………………………...117 2.4.3 Establishing a Caliphate without Temporal Power: The End of Sultanate and the Last Caliph ………………………………………………………………….119 2.4.4 Struggle between Ankara and Istanbul: Last Caliph as a Powerhouse for the Opposition ……………………………………………………………………...121 2.4.5 Letter Crisis and the Kemalist Reaction …………………………………..129 2.4.6 Kemalist Objections to Attitudes of Caliph Abdulmecid: The Budget Crisis and the First Kemalist Attack to the Caliphate ………………………………….133 2.4.7 Abolition of the Caliphate ………………………………………………...138 2.4.8 After the Abolition of the Caliphate ………………………………………145 2.4.9 Efforts for the Revival of the Caliphate and Kemalist Turkey …………….149 2.5 Sheikh Said Rebellion of 1925 and the Elimination of First Opposition Party ……...153 2.5.1 Kurdish People and Their Support to the Turkish War of Independence ….158 2.5.2 Kemalist Policies towards to the Kurdish People after the War of Independence ……………………………………………………………….......164 2.5.3 Sheikh Said Rebellion of 1925 ……………………………………………165 2.5.4 Takrir-i Sukun Kanunu (Law on the Maintenance of Order) and Elimination of the Opposition Party …………………………………………………………175 2.5.5 Cult of Personality of Mustafa Kemal after the Establishment of the Kemalist Autocracy ………………………………………………………………………184 Chapter 3- Kemalist Reforms in Social and Legal Structure of Turkey…………………………191 3.1 The Dress Code: The Hat Law of 1925 ……………………………………………..193 ix 3.1.1 The Headdress Reform in the Ottoman Empire before the Hat Law ………195 3.1.2 Reasons of Religious and Cultural Objections to a Headdress Reform .......198 3.1.3 First Kemalist Initiatives to Convince People to Headdress Reform ……...201 3.1.4 Mustafa Kemal as a Role Model during the Headdress Reform …………..202 3.1.5 The Hat Law of 1925 ……………………………………………………...209 3.1.6 Implementation of the Hat Law and Protests against the Reform …………214 3.2 Closing Down the Dervish Lodges …………………………………………………222 3.2.1 Kemalist Reasons Behind the Closure of Dervish Lodges ………………..225 3.2.2 First Kemalist Initiatives against to Dervish Lodges and their Closure …...226 3.2.3 Debates in the GNA and the Implementation of Penal Sanctions towards Members of Dervish Lodges ……………………………………………………229 3.3 Legal Reforms: Accepting the Swiss Code