Formation of the Turkish Nation-State, 1920–1938

206 Pages·2014·0.827 MB·English

by  Yeşim Bayar (auth.)

Formation of the Turkish
Nation-State, 1920–1938
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Formation of the Turkish
Nation-State, 1920–1938
Yeşim Bayar
ISBN 978-1-137-38452-2 ISBN 978-1-137-38453-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137384539
FORMATION OF THE TURKISH NATION-STATE, 1920–1938
Copyright © Yeşim Bayar, 2014.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United
States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of
the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan
Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998,
of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above compa-
nies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United
States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
E-ISBN: 978-1-137-38453-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bayar, Yes¸im.
Formation of the Turkish nation-state, 1920–1938 / by Yes¸im Bayar.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-137-38452-2 (hardback : alkaline paper)
1. Turkey—Politics and government—1918–1960. 2. Nation-
building—Turkey—History—20th century. 3. Nationalism—
Turkey—History—20th century. 4. Kemalism—History—20th
century. 5. Elite (Social sciences)—Turkey—Political activity—
History—20th century. 6. Language policy—Turkey—History—
20th century. 7. Education and state—Turkey—History—20th
century. 8. Citizenship—Turkey—History—20th century. I. Title.
DR590.B374 2014
956.1’024—dc23 2013047546
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by SPi Global.
First edition: June 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Dilek, Sezai, Ayşem, and Patrick
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction 1
2 The Ottoman Empire and the Road to the Republic 15
3 The Politics of Language and Building the Nation 37
4 The Politics of Education and Building the Nation 73
5 The Politics of Citizenship and Building the Nation 107
6 Conclusion 145
Appendix: Selected Biographies 155
Notes 165
References 179
Index 193
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Acknowledgments
This book is based on my PhD dissertation. At the Department of
Sociology, McGill University, I found a home not only to see my proj-
ect to its completion but also to teach and to be involved in a number
of research projects. For giving me the opportunity to teach and learn
from my students I would especially like to thank Michael Smith,
Morton Weinfeld and Suzanne Staggenborg.
My research took place at two archives in Turkey. I want to thank
the staff at the Prime Ministerial Republican Archives and the Turkish
Grand National Assembly Library and Archives for their patience and
help. I am especially indebted to Engin Keleş who supplied me with
much-needed assistance on short notice. I was fortunate enough to
receive (cid:31)na ncial support for the research from the J. W. McConnell
Fellowship, Max Binz Fellowship, Max Stern Recruitment Fellowship,
the Research Group on Ethnic Con(cid:30)ic t and Human Rights, and the
Department of Sociology at McGill University.
In the course of the project I became indebted to a large number
of friends and colleagues. For their advice and criticisms on earlier ver-
sions of this work I wish to thank Matthew Lange, Brendan O’Leary,
Liliana Riga, and James Ron. Monica Ringer and Berna Turam gave
me the opportunity to present parts of this work at their workshop at
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. I would like to thank them
and the participants at the workshop for their invaluable feedback.
I owe much gratitude to Berna Turam who, in more ways than I
can account for here, helped me throughout. She generously devoted
her time to read almost every page of my work, and gave me much-
appreciated advice. I also thank her for the opportunity I had to give
lectures to her students in İstanbul and Bodrum. She has been a most
thoughtful and kind friend to me, always pushing me forward and
inspiring me with her passion for debate and intellectual curiosity. For
those, I cannot thank her enough.
Montreal turned out to be a very special place for me. Not only did
I go through the arduous process of graduate studies here, but I was
fortunate enough to meet amazing friends and colleagues. For her
great sense of humor and her infectious love for life I thank Manal