Turkey, a Century of Change in State and Society (The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy)

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. Acknowledgments 6 Contents 7 Notes on Contributors 9 1 Introduction: From the Ottoman Empire to Republican Turkey—A Century of Disjunctions and Continuities 12 1.1 Continuities and Disjunctions 13 1.1.1 Disjunctions 13 1.1.2 Continuities 15 1.2 The Great Dates That Marked the Republican Century 16 1.2.1 The Single Party Period 17 1.2.2 The End of World War II: Adopting a Multi-party System and Integrating the Western Bloc 18 1.2.3 Military Interventions and Their Impact on Turkish Political Life 19 1.2.4 The End of the Cold War and the AKP in Power 20 1.3 Structure and Contents of the Book 21 References 23 2 Belonging to a Republic or Something Else: An Assessment of the Evolution and Challenges to Modern Citizenship in Contemporary Turkey 25 2.1 Introduction 25 2.2 Citizenship as Modernization: Two Models of Nationhood and the Turkish Experience 28 2.3 Turkish Citizenship: Civic-Territorial or Ethnic-Genealogical 30 2.4 Citizenship as a Political Mode of Integration: Two Modalities and Turkish Republicanism 33 2.5 Turkish Citizenship: Liberal or Republican? 34 2.6 Democratic Versus Authoritarian Contexts: The Achievements and Failures of Turkish Modernization and the Challenges to Republican Citizenship in Contemporary Turkey 37 2.7 Citizenship and Democracy in Turkey Today 42 2.8 Conclusion 46 Notes 46 References 49 3 Transformations in the Turkish Economy: A Political Economy Analysis of 100 Years of the Republic of Turkey 53 3.1 Introduction 53 3.2 Formation: The New Republic and Its Economy 55 3.2.1 The Great Depression and the Rise of Statism 56 3.2.2 World War II and Turkey’s Adjustments to the Post-War Era 58 3.3 Import Substitution Industrialization and Planning 59 3.3.1 Limits of Capitalist Planning 60 3.3.2 The ISI Crisis 61 3.4 Transition to Neoliberalism 62 3.4.1 The Measures of January 24, 1980 and the Changing Growth Model 63 3.4.2 Liberalization of Capital Movements 65 3.5 Dependent Financialization and Its Crisis 66 3.5.1 2001 Crisis and Post-Crisis Program 66 3.5.2 2013 as a Turning Point 68 3.5.3 New Directions After 2018 69 3.6 Conclusion 71 Notes 72 References 73 4 The State and Religion from 1923 to 2023: Major Tendencies in an Incomplete Development 81 4.1 Introduction 81 4.2 Creating a Modern Secular State on the Western Model: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s Original Aim 84 4.2.1 Institutions Serving Kemalist Secularism 87 4.2.2 The Turkish Army as the Guardian of a Particular Form of Secularism 87 4.2.3 The Diyanet and Its Ambiguous Vision of Secularism 90 4.2.4 The Issue of Education at the Centre of the Debate About Secularism 92 4.3 Between Re-Islamization and Democratization, Reforms of Secularism by the Ruling AKP Party 94 4.3.1 The AKP in Power, and Its Reforms of the Kemalist Establishment 95 4.3.2 The Diyanet More Than Ever at the Service of the AKP Government 98 4.3.3 Education Now More Open to Islam 101 4.3.4 The Turkish Army is No Longer the Guardian of Secularism 102 4.4 Conclusion 103 Notes 105 References 107 5 Turkey’s Nation-Building and the Kurdish Question 111 5.1 The Ottoman Legacy 113 5.2 1920–1946: Negotiating National Identity 115 5.3 1946–1980: A Partial Opening? 117 5.4 After the Coup: 1960s-1980s 118 5.5 1980s: Emerging Forms of Kurdish Nationalism 120 5.6 1990s: The Bifurcated State 122 5.7 The 2000s: Muslim Identity or Progressive Politics? 124 5.8 The Kurdish Opening: Strategy of Incorporation? 127 5.9 Renewed Fighting 131 5.10 Conclusion 132 Notes 133 References 138 6 Turkey, the West and the Endless Search for Power 144 6.1 The Interwar Years and Balanced Westernism 146 6.2 Turkey as an Outpost of the Containment Strategy 148 6.3 Detente and Balancing 150 6.4 The Peak of Autonomy in Foreign Policy: The Cyprus Intervention 153 6.5 Turkey Between Military Rule and Neoliberalism 155 6.6 The Tumultuous 1990s 157 6.7 The Rise of the Islamist Politics: The Many Faces of the AKP 161 6.8 The Arab Spring and the Illusion of Neo-Ottomanism 163 6.9 Conclusion 167 References 168 7 Turkey and Europe, an Ambivalent Relationship Since the Establishment of the Turkish Republic 172 7.1 Introduction 172 7.2 Turkey and Europe: An Age-Old Relationship 173 7.2.1 From the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey: Between Alliances and Conflicts 173 The Ottoman Empire, a “European Power” 173 “The Sick Man of Europe”: The Eastern Question 173 The Republic of Turkey: Europe, a “Model of Universal Civilisation” 173 7.2.2 Opting for Europe and the West After World War II 176 Turkey as a Key Member of NATO 176 Membership of Major European Organisations 176 7.3 Multidimensional Relations Between Turkey and Europe 178 7.3.1 A Privileged Economic Partnership 178 7.3.2 A Pro-Western Military and Security Commitment 180 7.3.3 Turkish Immigration and Integration in Europe 181 7.3.4 Participation in Sporting and Cultural Events 182 7.4 The Issue of Turkey’s Membership of the European Union 182 7.4.1 The Ankara Association Agreement at the Start of Accession Negotiations 183 7.4.2 Opening Negotiations: A Decisive Lever 184 7.4.3 What is at Issue Over Turkey's Accession: Debates and Perceptions 186 Objective and Subjective Criteria 186 Turkey, a “Mirror” of European Issues 186 Different Partisan Positions in Different European Countries 186 7.4.4 The Future of Turkey-EU Relations 189 Europeans’ Dilemma About Turkey, Cooperation or Denunciation 189 Scenarios and Hypotheses 189 7.5 Conclusion: Where Are Turkish-EU Relations Going? 193 Notes 193 References 195 8 Conclusion: Turkey at the Crossroads in 2023 197 Notes 200 Republic of Turkey 201 Box A—Back To: The Origins of the Cyprus Question 203 Box B—The Alevis in Turkey: The Maintaining of Discrimination 207 References 212 Box C—Turkey in Africa, A New Power 213 Historical Perspective 213 Political Relationships 214 Economic Relations 215 Soft Power That Is Here to Stay 215 Military Links 216 Conclusion 217