Turkey A Century Of Change In State And Society

The Republic of Turkey celebrates the centenary of its proclamation in 2023. Founded on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, one of the world’s greatest empires both in terms of its geographical extent and its longevity, Republican Turkey has gone through a century of profound and constant changes and transformations from politics to society, economy to religion, or culture to history. These changes have been produced by inner and foreign policies carried out and implemented by the country’s leaders – from Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the current Turkish President in 2023 - but also under the influence of the regional and international context. This collective work aims to take stock of the great achievements of the Turkish republican project. It attempts to draw a general presentation of the evolution of contemporary Turkey in six main areas which constitute six major issues for the country: the general political evolution of Turkey focusing on the issue of citizenship; the transformations in the Turkish economy through a political economy analysis; the evolution of the relationship between religion, state and society; Turkey’s nation-building and the Kurdish question, which still seeks a solution; the changes in Turkish foreign policy focusing on the relationship between Turkey and the West; the relationship between Turkey and Europe, caught between the model of civilization for the republican regime and the prospects of accession to the European Union. Several “focus points” also concentrate on specific subjects such as the Alevi issue, the Cyprus issue or the Turkish soft power with an accent on Africa.

The author draws attention to the strong state tradition and the pluralistic society that both prevailed in Turkey. He argues that the Turkish state tradition envisages centralization, social cohesion and an obedient political culture. Through the modernization process of the last century, it has tried to change the society from top to down, and built an ideological and unitarian public sphere. However, the transition to multi-party system in 1950 and the liberalization policies that followed in the post-1980s have prepared the ground for different social movements to come into existence in the same public arena. Social movements which developed particularly among Kurds, Alevis and women emphasize social diversity, pluralism, participation, limited authority, freedom and human rights. They, thus, have paved the way for the transformation of the ideological public sphere into a plural and a civil public domain. The author follows the traces of all these developments from the Ottoman Empire to the last decades of the Republican Turkey. Moving from the case of Turkey he makes an important contribution to the literature on various issues such as civil society, public sphere, modernization, democracy, and social movements.

Turkey is positioned to become the twenty-first centuryÆs first Muslim power. Based on a dynamic economy and energetic foreign policy, TurkeyÆs growing engagement with other countries has made it a key player in the newly emerging multidirectional world order. TurkeyÆs trade patterns and societal interaction with other nations have broadened and deepened dramatically in the past decade, transforming Turkey from a Cold War outpost into a significant player internationally. TurkeyÆs ascendance and the changes that have taken place under the leadership of TurkeyÆs Muslim conservative government have prompted its policymakers to craft a new vision of their role in twenty-first-century society. This developing worldview animates TurkeyÆs desire to sometimes take the lead with its co-religionists and occasionally challenge its partners in the West, while showing no inclination to become an irresponsible rising power. If it can consolidate liberal democracy at home, Turkey could also assume the role of serving as an example for the newly emerging governments brought about by the Arab Spring. The cornerstone of TurkeyÆs rise has been the governmentÆs ability to foster stable political conditions for economic growth, alongside a foreign policy that balances TurkeyÆs Muslim identity with its Western overlay, including its strong ties to the United States. Accordingly, policies that could tarnish TurkeyÆs reputation as a bastion of stability risk undermining its position between Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. This realization has been the catalyst for Ankara's careful management of Eastern and Western desires and expectations. The result is a new Turkey: a twenty-first-century Muslim power that promotes stability without the confines of a regional, European rubric.

At the start of the century Turkey maintains its ceaseless search for closer links with Europe. The essential mission of the Republic created by Mustafa Kemal after the First World War was the modernization of Turkey in accordance with the Western secular and democratic model. In Helsinki at the turn of the century Turkey was finally accepted as a candidate for EU membership and now hopes for, and expects, a new future. With this future in mind the authors of the studies in this book consider how prepared in various fields Turkey now is for the transformation in which it is engaged. Turkey's path in the twenty-first century will not be easy. There are serious issues to be faced in the management of the economy. In politics there are human rights and other problems deeply affecting Turkish democracy, and a Kurdish reality with which to come to terms. There are the problems to be faced of a revived Islam, the forward role of the military in its self-styled role as defender of the secular state, the need for the reform of the state's bureaucracy, the preservation of national unity, and the reform and development of turkey's democratic structure. Internationally Turkey lives in a volatile Middle Eastern and Central Asian environment, but one with which she has to deal politically and economically, particularly as Caspian and other energy sources are vital. Internally there are movements of population that are disrupting established social structures. These changes are reflected in literature and in the media. A new transformation is underway in Turkey. This book throws light on major factors of change in Turkish economics, politics and society. It uniquely pulls together Turkish experience over a wide area. It is promoted by the Turkish Area Study Group. - Back cover.

Turkey's Enagement with Modernity explores how the country has been shaped in the image of the Kemalist project of nationalist modernity and how it has transformed, if erratically, into a democratic society where tensions between religion, state and society continue unabated.