Turkey: Difference between revisions

 

=== Interwar Period ===

The Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, following the Turkish National Movement's victory during War of Independence. The country became an Authoritarian One-Party state under the leadership of its founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. During his tenure, Atatürk enacted the modernization and secularization of the Turkish State, using the principles of Kemalism as a model, however resistance to the reforms manifested early on. Secular legal codes were established, the Turkish language was reformed, and Women's suffrage was realized - by the completion of the reforms, Turkish society had gone through a total transformation. In response to the abolition of the Caliphate and complaints of Turkish Maltreatment, a series of Kurdish rebellions began in the east, Southeast Anatolia was placed under martial law. The system of "Inspectorate Generals" were established to enact the Turkification process.

 

 

=== Second World War ===

As the war seemed turning increasingly in favor of the Axis Powers, arguments for joining forces with Rome and Berlin became increasingly persuasive, as pressure from the Germany and sympathetic ministers began holding sway. In the final stages of the conflict, following a tense three-way diplomatic incident between his government on one side and Hitler and Mussolini's ambassadors to Ankara on the other, the president issued out a declaration of war against the Allies and the Soviets both, and Turkish forces swept through the desert of Syria and the mountains of the Caucasus, claiming all of the territories of the Misak-ı Milli (National Pact) which the Republic was forced to concede in various treaties with Russia, Britain, and France soon after its inception. Great swathes of territory in the Levant, the Caucasus, and the Balkans were annexed directly into the Turkish state. Turkey had entered the war as a still-fledgling republic and left it as an empire.

 

 

A Grand Council of Fascism has been reintroduced as an institution of the Grand National Assembly that oversees the rejection of any laws that go against the principles of Kemalism. The military was empowered, with many of its loyal and popular members gaining seats in Parliament and on occasion in the president's cabinet. Minority rights were eroded to their status during the rebellions of the 20s, and an expanded Report for Reform was upheld as official government policy, leading to greatly restricted rights for all non-military personnel in minority provinces - all in an effort to "enshrine stability and create an opportunity for greater democratic participation in the future," if the president is to be believed. İnönü's regime survives propped up by three pillars: nationalism, statism, and militarism. It would appear that in this the CHP has found its winning formula; For the party has never lost an election in the past 20 years, maintaining a facade of true democracy. One movement which was defined by this trend towards authoritarianism was the Güven Partisi, or 'Trust Party' led by Turhan Feyzioğlu. Rampant nationalism influenced by the Italian school of fascism, they were instrumental in shaping the cast within which İnönü's new republic was molded.

 

Not all parts of the political establishment were happy with this arrangement, most notable among them are Celâl Bayar and his circle of acquaintances. Bayar replaced İnönü as prime minister after 1937. As an advocate of classical liberalism, both economic and political, and a political rival of the president, opposed to the changes made following the war. Bayar's hostility with the government culminated in a public resignation from his post as a member of Parliament in 1948 alongside a small number of allies. This threat was met with careful maneuvering by the president, who allowed Bayar to found his own party, the Democrat Party, on the condition that he return to serve in Parliament as the leader of a loyal opposition. Having won his concessions, Bayar's new party accepted, and has been engaged in a parliamentary stand-off with the CHP's majority ever since. In the meantime, the Güven Partisi and the Demokrat Parti led by Bayar formed the UDP (Ulusal Demokrat Parti/National Democratic Party) as a right-wing political movement. During the rally of the celebration and announcement of said alliance, Celal Bayar was killed by gunmen associated with the fascist prime minister Recep Peker. This incident led to escalation by the right which eventually saw the Güven Partisi dissolved and their politicians banned at the hands of the CHP, as well as the suppression of leftist groups like TKP across the country.