Turkey, Power and the West by Ali Bilgic

Author:Ali Bilgic [Bilgic, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Gender Studies, Islamic Studies, History, Middle East, General, Political Science, International Relations, Turkey & Ottoman Empire
ISBN: 9781786720849
Google: PbmKDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2016-09-29T01:00:11+00:00

The Longest 20 Years, 1960–80: Reconstructing Non-Western ‘Difference’ within the West

The DP's final years in office, particularly following the 1957 general elections, were shaped by a combination of economic problems (devaluation of the Turkish lira in 1958 following an austerity agreement with the IMF) and increasing political opposition. In the face of these problems, a method adopted by the Menderes government (1957–60) was the formation of the ‘Motherland Front’ (Vatan Cephesi), a pro-DP societal organisation whose objective was to explain government policies to the society in tandem with anti-communism and religious propaganda, combined with a discourse of democracy and liberalism.55 The second method was much more drastic and provoked violent protests in Istanbul and Ankara: it instigated a parliamentary investigation into the CHP with the allegation that it was orchestrating a coup. Further protests were provoked when several governors attempted to prevent CHP leader İnönü's election trips. Newspapers printed photos of an aged ‘hero’ of the Independence War and the former ‘national chief’ fiercely arguing with the governors. Until the 27 May 1960 military coup, CHP and İnönü were the centre of societal opposition against the oppressive state.

One of the most important characteristics of the DP was its discursive strategy of redefining the national sovereignty principle solely with the DP. In Turkey, national sovereignty (milli irade) has been appropriated to justify the oppression of the opposition (quantitatively, the opposition in Parliament, and qualitatively, the bureaucracy, judiciary, press and universities) by invoking the idea of majoritarianism. The opposition was otherised and marginalised as opposed to the forces that allegedly represented milli irade. Therefore, the ‘fetish’ of national sovereignty of authoritarian liberalism has long been a tool of hyperfeminisation of the society.57 In the late 1950s, by relying on the number of seats obtained in Parliament, ‘the DP increasingly believed that it solely and directly represented national sovereignty’.58 This approach contributed to the 27 May 1960 military coup. In other words, the DP was the first representative of ‘authoritarian liberalism’ to be in power. While they continued the practices of Kemalism in favour of a strong state, the Cold Warrior masculinity offered them the necessary ideological tools (anti-communism, religion and conservatism) to consolidate their power over society.

In May 1960, the societal cleavages reflected in elite-level politics were, on the one hand, commercial bourgeoisie such as petty merchants, big landowners and subsidised farmers, and on the other, white-collar employees, manufacturing, urban and semi-urban bourgeoisie and intellectuals. In the latter group, white-collar employees included bureaucrats and army officers whose purchasing power had substantially decreased since the 1958 devaluation. The manufacturing bourgeoisie showed discontent with the reluctance of the DP governments to support the import substitution industrialisation model (ISI) in favour of big landowners, and the petty bourgeoisie that enjoyed clientalist relations with the DP. Finally, the intelligentsia consisted of a wide group of Kemalists, nationalists and socialists opposed to the increasing liberal authoritarianism of the DP. One of the main reasons why the 1960 military coup was referred to as a ‘national revolution’ was

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.