The roots of Turkish liberalism (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Second Constitutional Monarchy (1908-1918) marked the beginning of a period during which various thoughts and movements that had been united in their opposition to Abdulhamid II become disunited, organized independently of each other, and were able to express themselves. This era was not only instrumental in shaping Ottoman liberal and socialist thought but also constituted the dynamics of the events that would set the course of such thoughts in the Republican era. This study provides a comparative analysis of how liberal and socialist movements in the late Ottoman Empire perceived society and democracy in the aftermath of the Second Constitutional Monarchy. It first examines the views of the two leading groups of Ottoman liberal thought, namely, Ulum-u İktisadiye ve İçtimaiye Mecmuası Öz: II. Meşrutiyet Osmanlı Devletinde Abdülhamit karşıtlığı çerçevesinde bir araya gelmiş çeşitli düşünce ve akımların birbirlerinden özerkleşerek örgütlendikleri ve kendilerini ifade edebildikleri bir dönemin başlangıcını oluşturmuştur. Bu dönem Osmanlı liberal ve sosyalist düşüncesinin şekillenmesinde belirleyici olduğu gibi Cumhuriyet döneminde bu düşüncelerin seyrini belirleyen olayların da dinamiğini oluşturmuştur. Çalışma II. Meşrutiyet sonrasında Liberal ve Sosyalist akımların Osmanlı Devletindeki yansımaları olan kişi ve kuruluşların toplum ve demokrasi algılamasını karşılaştırmalı bir biçimde incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmada öncelikle Osmanlı liberal düşüncesinde belirleyici olan iki grubun, Ulum-u İktisadiye ve İçtimaiye Mecmuası çevresi ve Teşebbüs-i Şahsi ve Adem-i Merkeziyet Cemiyeti'nin toplum ve demokrasi görüşleri incelenmektedir. İkinci olarak Osmanlı Sosyalist Fırkası ve Türkiye Komünist Partisi'nin arka planını oluşturan gruplaşmalar çerçevesin-de Osmanlı sosyalistlerinin aynı konulardaki görüşleri ele alınmaktadır. Çalışmanın sonunda ulaşılan sonuçlar karşılaştırmalı olarak tartışılmaktadır.
L’objet de cette étude est l'analyse des changements du cadre institutionnel et administratif de l'empire Ottoman durant la période de réformes pré-constitutionnelles des Tanzimat entre 1839 et 1871. L’objectif est double. D'une part, mettre en perspective les changements apportés à une administration publique Islamique traditionnelle suite à l'émergence de l'idéologie libérale et ses incidences sur les modes de gouvernance et d'organisation de l'Etat. D'autre part, questionner l'interprétation occidentale selon laquelle l'avènement de l'Etat libéral est la conséquence directe du développement de l'Etat Nation. Dans une première partie l’étude se consacrera à l'analyse de l'institutionnalisation de formes représentatives et participatives de gouvernance au sein d'un Empire multiconfessionnel par la transition d'un appareil administratif islamique traditionnelle vers un appareil administratif rationnel-légale dans l'administration impériale, provinciale et communale. Ensuite, cette étude procédera à l'interprétation de cette transition à la lumière des caractéristiques d'un Etat libéral du dix-neuvième siècle. Les résultats de cette recherche permettent de soutenir que la "révolution" libérale a été possible dans un environnement politique différent de l'Etat Nation, et, par conséquent, de remettre en question l'interprétation Occidentale des Tanzimat.
This study analyses the main themes of the (new) constitution debate in Turkey by focusing on the representatives of different ideological/political dispositions in the Turkish print media. The recent debate revolving around the need for a new constitution, the deficits of the current constitution, and the expectations from the new constitution hints at the dominance of liberal perspective on the notion of democracy. Although this may not come as a surprise considering the long-lived global alliance between liberalism and democracy, it is interesting that the debate on the new constitution in Turkey is coupled with the concept of "advance democracy" and its timing parallels the deliberations on "democratisation of liberal democracy" in the world of political theory. However, while the latter refers to an endeavour to develop a critical perspective on the theory and practice of liberal democracy, based mainly upon the notions of participation, popular sovereignty and equality, in the Turkish case advance democracy comes to mean liberal (or more liberal) democracy. Such notions as 'limited state', 'individual rights and liberties', 'rule of law', and 'legitimacy', which are indeed the central themes of the liberal tradition, are recalled as the major characteristics of a democratic constitution in Turkey; and they also serve as the major criteria according to which the current constitution is criticized. But this happens without any reference to (or a sign of acknowledgement of) the history of complex relationship between liberal and democratic traditions. In other words, what we observe in the case of the debates on the new constitution in Turkey is the conflation of liberalism and democracy. Liberalism and Democracy. TÜRKİYE'DEKİ YENİ ANAYASADAN BEKLENTİLER: LİBERALİZMİN DEMOKRATİKLEŞMESİ YA DA DEMOKRASİNİN LİBERALLEŞMESİ ÖZET Bu çalışma Türkiye'de yeni anayasa tartışmalarının ana temalarını, bu tartışmaların hangi sorular ve meseleler etrafında döndüğünü incelemektedir. Bunu yaparken de ülke yazılı 380 Funda Gençoğlu-Onbaşı & Aybars Yanık basınında farklı ideolojik ve politik duruşları, eğilimleri temsil eden gazeteler örneklem olarak alınmaktadır. Yeni bir anayasaya duyulan ihtiyaç, mevcut anayasanın eksiklikleri ve yeni bir anayasadan beklentiler hakkındaki tartışma demokrasi olgusunun ele alınışında ve kavramsallaştırılmasında liberal pespektifin hakimiyetini işaret etmektedir. Liberalizm ve demokrasi arasında uzun yıllardır süregiden ve neredeyse küresel yaygınlık kazanmış birlikteliği göz önünde bulundurunca bu çok şaşırtıcı gelmeyebilir. İlginç olan, Türkiye'de yeni anayasa tartışmalarına eşlik eden 'ileri demokrasi' kavramının siyaset kuramı dünyasında bir süredir devam eden 'liberal demokrasinin demokratikleştirilmesi' tartışmalarıyla aynı zamanlara denk gelmekte olmasıdır. Ancak, ikincisinde esas olan katılım, halk egemenliği, eşitlik kavramlarını hareket noktası olarak alarak liberal demokrasi teorisi ve pratiğine dair eleştirel bir bakış açısı geliştirmek iken Türkiye'de ileri demokrasi liberal (ya da daha liberal) demokrasi anlamını kazanmaktadır. 'Sınırlı devlet', 'bireysel haklar ve özgürlükler', 'hukuk devleti', 'meşruiyet' gibi aslında liberal geleneğin yapı taşları olan kavramlar Türkiye'de demokratik bir anayasanın sahip olması gereken özellikler olarak anılmakta, bu kavramlar aynı zamanda demokratik olmadığı düşünülen mevcut anayasayı eleştirmek için kullanılan ana kriterler olmaktadır. Fakat bütün bunlar olurken liberal ve demokratik gelenekler arasındaki karmaşık ilişkinin uzun geçmişi neredeyse hiç hatırlanmamakta, sanki bu yokmuş gibi davranılmaktadır. Diğer bir deyişle aslında Türkiye'deki yeni anayasa tartışmalarında gözlemlediğimiz şey demokrasi ve liberalizmin birbirine karıştırılmasıdır.
Turkish conservatism from a comparative perspective
2002
This thesis serves for the aim of understanding the Turkish conservatism by making comparative analysis and by focusing on the emergence of conservative attitudes. This study aimed to examine the role of conservatism in the modernization process of Turkish Republic. Modernization, or Westernization, has been one of the most discussed issues of Turkish politics. Since conservatism was associated with reaction against the modernization movements, it is important to look upon how radical changes were perceived by conservatives and what kind of responses were given to them in terms of understanding the modernization attempt of Turkey. Conservatism emerged in Europe as a reaction to the ideas and movements that became apparent with French Revolution. Since conservatism firstly emerged in Europe, it provided an example for the other conservative experiences. The significant examples of European conservatism are German, French, and British conservatisms. In order to explore the affinity between the Turkish and European conservatisms in terms of their initial phases, a kind of comparative analysis is necessary. Firstly, I explore the basic characteristics of conservatism and focused on the European conservatism by briefly giving the peculiar characteristics of three examples. Then in order to understand the Turkish conservatism I focused on responses of Turkish conservatism on modernization, change, nationalism and Islamism. Under the light of these, I compare Turkish conservatism with European conservatism. Under the framework of above procedure, this thesis indicates that, although there are similarities between European conservatism and Turkish conservatism on basic characteristics of conservatism, conservative experiences have been shaped according to peculiar historical, political, social and economic characteristics of each context.
Democracy and Freedom: The Redefinition of the Ideology of the Turkish Regime in the Postwar Period
Hakan Yilmaz. 1997. "Democracy and Freedom: The Redefinition of the Ideology of the Turkish Regime in the Postwar Period" In Elites and Change in the Mediterranean, ed. Antonio Marquina, Madrid: FMES, 1997, pp.27-44
The modern Turkish state had been built in the aftermath of the First World War, during the 1920s and 1930s. The political, economic, and ideological foundations of the current Turkish regime, however, were laid down after the Second World War, particularly during the transition from a one party to a multi party regime between 1945 1950 and the first experiment in multiparty politics between 1950 1960. Turkey's first democratic decade was closed with a military coup in 1960, again the first of its kind since the inauguration of the Republic in 1923. What happened between 1945 1960 transition, democratic experimentation, and military intervention does in fact constitute a pattern that repeated itself twice after 1960 (in 1960 1971 and 1973 1980). For a better understanding of the later evolution of the postwar Turkish regime it is therefore essential to have a closer look at this formative period. In this paper I will examine the ideological dimensions of the developments in 1945 1960. The basic ideological themes and debates of this period, as well as the actors who carried them out, have continued to shape Turkish politics long after 1960 and they keep exerting their effect even today.
The Society for the Dissemination of Free Ideas (SDFI) was the first liberal civil society organization in Turkey. To this date, little attention has been paid to its actions and ideology. Taking the history of the SDFI as its central focus, this article aims to give an account of liberal opposition to authoritarianism in Turkey in the late 1940s, analyzing the factors which led self-proclaimed liberals to unify and eventually disband their alliance, and the novelties and limits of liberal thought at the time.
From Conservatism to Turkish Conservatism: Cultural and Political Roots of an Ideology
This article examines the cultural and political dimensions of an ideology from conservative theory to Turkish conservatism. The article aims to demonstrate the evolution of Turkish conservatism based on the argument that there is a continuity between conservative theory and Turkish conservatism. Conservatism is sometimes defined as an disposition. However, conservatism is a practical ideology. The article first elaborates this argument by drawing on the theories of Michael Freeden and Pierre Bourdieu. Second, having established that conservatism is a practical ideology, he distinguishes the main pillars of conservative ideology. The third part of the article analyzes Turkish conservatism. Accordingly, the roots of Turkish conservatism can be found in the culturecivilization debates of the 19th century. Elaborating the formation of this ideology over the past hundred years, it seems more accurate to mention "Turkish conservatisms" rather than "Turkish conservatism." The article distinguishes some conservatisms in the history of Turkish conservatism as follows: classical conservatism, nationalist and Islamist conservatism, liberal conservatism. The last part of the article argues how the Justice and Development Party articulates these different conservatisms and inherits a form of conservatism.
Liberal Thought and Public Moralists in Turkey
The history of liberalism in Turkey has had significant implications concerning particularly whether liberalisation depends upon the reform of the self. This essay aims to accentuate the moral aspects of liberal thought in the Turkish context, because first, it is hard not to detect a tone of obstinate moralism in the writings of a large number of Turkish liberals, and second, little attention has been paid to this aspect of liberal thought. The objective is to draw attention to the views of Mehmed Sabahaddin (1878 -1948) and Ahmet Agaoglu (1869 -1939) regarding moralism, arguing that a repetitive language of character undergirded their liberalism.
Conservatism and Turkey: Case of Motherland Party
2014
Conservative ideology which is a modern movement as opposed to Western modernisation emerged in the 18th century. Conservatism has been reshaped by various interpretations in different countries; states and the societies has been highly affected by this ideology. The concept of conservatism had an impact on politics and the society in the last period of Ottoman Empire which is not familiar to the West countries practices. Even the studies about conservatism has not been considered crucial for a long time, the emergence of Motherland Party and the Justice and Development Party which define their political view as democratic conservatism in Turkish political life have increased the number studies dramatically related to conservatism. In this study firstly, definitions and the characteristics of conservatism will be scrutinized according to different academicians. Furthermore, the fundamental principles of conservatism are examined and evaluated in detail. Lastly, how conservatism emerged in Turkey and what are differences and the similarities between Turkey and the West in case of conservatism will be analysed in dept. In the qualitative part of the study, the concept of conservatism will be discussed in case of Turgut OZAL who was the founder of the Motherland Party in Turkey. On the other hand, the common points of Motherland Party and Development and Justice party in terms of parties programs and leaders discourses will be put forth.