JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN AND BLACK SEA STUDIES: Book Review of Touraj Atabaki's The state and the subaltern. Modernization, society and state in Turkey and Iran (original) (raw)
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COMPARISON OF MODERNİZATION MOVEMENTS OF TURKEY AND IRAN BETWEEN 16-19.CENTURIES
COMPARISON OF MODERNİZATION MOVEMENTS OF TURKEY AND IRAN BETWEEN 16-19.CENTURIES, 2024
Turkey and Iran have been dominant opposing states since the appearance of the Safavid dynasty. In the reign of Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire and Shah Ismail I of the Safavid Empire, interactions between these states increased tremendously. These interactions were so significant, Especially for Iran, the consequences of these interactions affected the success rate of modernization attempts. Shah Ismail’s taking power as sheik Ismail rather than Shah Ismail, shaped his reputation and behalf of his followers. Therefore, defeat in the battle of Chaldiran didn’t affect only the legitimacy of Ismail I. Also affected the Shia ulemas power on the Iranian state and Society. After the war, Sheik Ismaıl I lost his religious identity on the behalf of his followers and he was seen as Shah Ismail after the Battle of Chaldiran. Thus, religious authority shifted to Local Ulemas and created a religion-based feudalism in Iran. Hence, Iranian modernization can be read as the power struggle between Local Shia Ulema and The Modernist Iranian Shah’s and Sadrazams. Despite the important enterprises for reforms of Abbas I, Amir Kabir, Nasreddin shah and Reza Shah, Shia ulema was always able to keep their control on the Iranian state and the intentions for reforms. Moreover, Shia Ulema succeed not only to maintain power of control but also to extend. This phenomenon is the biggest difference between Iranian Modernizations attempts and Turkish Modernization Attempts. European advance based Turkish Modernization started with the Selim III and continued till Turkish Revolutions. Even though there were periods of disruption from time to time, Turkish modernization movements continued systematically unlike the Iranian’s. Continued to eliminate the power of Sunni Ulema and aimed to both keep them away from the State’s institutions and keep them in state control. Even though, Sunni Ulema of the Ottomans wasn’t as powerful as the Shia Ulema of Persians because of the centrist ideology of the Ottoman Empire, The Turkish State still had to eliminate their power. In this paper, differences between Turkish and Iranian modernization were examined and tried to understand the success range of these modernization movements in case of creating Nation-State and its identity, elimination of anti-Modernization groups, secularisation and establishing strong state bureaucracy and changings of Civil Society. In addition to these, the Influential effect of Turkish Modernization to the Iranian case was examined. The examined Date range is the beginning of the reign of Selim I and till second constitutional revolution of Turkey. For Iran, it was started by shah Ismael I and examined till the end of Qajar’s reign.
Osmanlı İmparatorluğu ve İran'daki modernleşme süreçleri ve anayasal devrimler
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This thesis aims to analyze the early modernization processes in the Ottoman Empire and Iran up to the end of their eventual constitutional revolutions of the early twentieth century in a comparative manner. In looking at the countries’ modernization processes, it emphasizes the importance of foreign influence – that of Western powers and Russia. It argues that these processes were a response to the rising socio-political and economic power of the West and Western intrusions into the territories of each state. In the Turkish case, the modernization process was mainly led by the rising Ottoman - Turkish intelligentsia despite the differences between the Young Ottomans, the Young Turks and the Committee of Union and Progress members. In the Iranian case, the modernization process was carried out mainly as a grassroots movement comprising reformist intellectuals, members of the ulema, the bazaaris (merchants), trade guilds people, workers and radical members of secret societies. In vie...
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In the early decades of the twentieth century, semi-modern states emerged in Iran and Turkey. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who managed to establish Turkey on the remains of the Ottoman Empire, tried to modernize Turkey with Antireligious approach. In Iran, too, Reza Khan successfully toppled the rotten Qajar Dynasty and took hold of the throne. He, likewise, believed in modernization through the process of Westernization. Foreign relations between two countries, and especially Reza Shah`s historical visit to Turkey (1934), deepened linkage of theoretical approach of two rulers, so that when Reza Shah returned from his historical visit, he became more determined in his Westernization policy and particularly unveiling women. Despite similar theoretical approaches and the influence of Turkey on Iran, comparing the westernization of Ataturk and Reza Shah reveals many differences in their magnitude and range. Ataturk omitted religious ranking, religious schools and Sharia courts, and monasteri...
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Turkey and Egypt’s modernization process dates back to the 17th century. The modernization and westernization processes continued in the aftermath of Egyptian independence (1922) and the declaration of the Republic (1923) in Turkey. One of the main outcomes of modernization in Turkey and Egypt was the secular policies, which were positioned in the center of state-religion relations. After 1980, liberal political and economic developments triggered the social, economic and political transformation in Turkey and Egypt, which are two close allies of the Western countries in the Middle East. However, Turkey and Egypt’s modernization processes gave different outcomes within three decades in term of democratization. By 2010, Turkey enjoyed the rise of democratic values while the military, one of the most prominent symbols of the secular regime, was losing its dominance in politics. A series of public demonstrations, known as “the Arab Spring”, shook Egypt in late 2010, and caused the fall of the Mubarak regime. Therefore, this dissertation aims to compare the modernization processes of Turkey and Egypt and their responses to change. I outline this study in two parts. First I analyze the social, economic and political developments of the two countries through their main political actors and institutions in a comparative perspective. Later, in case study part, I analyze the political actors that played a significant role in modernization and democratization: the Muslim Brotherhood, the Milli Görüş Movement and the AK Party. I also examine the socio-religious movement, the GM, and the MB through its social perspective. By doing this, I follow a parallel comparison pattern for the cases. In this dissertation, I will adopt the comparative historical method. In order to achieve the objectives, I will do historical analysis and study the sociological- structural, ideological and political behavioral aspects of the cases. In terms of the data sources, this dissertation will include content analyses and tertiary sources.