Turkish Nationalism: Part One

You don’t know much about Turkey, except that it is in the Middle East and that it is technically-secular-but-actually-Muslim and that it is a literal and metaphorical bridge of time and space. You mean to do some reading before you go. Knowing a bit of history can go a long way in enhancing your trips. But you procrastinate in getting books from the library, and you don’t know if this is because you are lazy and tend to procrastinate a lot, or because you secretly don’t want to read about Turkish history because you want to be a blank slate. Either way, you’re a blank slate when you arrive.

You spend your first few days secluded on campus, away from the city, away from real life. But there is a talk arranged, a sociology professor talking about the Turkish People. You go, with about six other people. You learn a few interesting things. The thing that sticks with you the most is that there are different kinds of Turkish nationalism: neoliberal nationalism and Kemalist nationalism. The professor simplifies things: neoliberal nationalists like the abundance of shopping malls, Turkey’s economic and industrial growth, and the push to modernize and westernize; Kemalist nationalists are anti-American, anti-Western, and pro-Turkish, emphasizing a return to Turkish values. Both viewpoints support their opinions with quotes from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the modern Turkish Republic.

Thanks to this talk, you realize that everyone loves Atatürk. Everyone thinks they know Atatürk, and because he was a normal guy and contradicted himself sometimes, everyone has a quote of his to back up their opinion. You think this is okay, because everyone needs a hero.

In other news, Turkey is different from your expectations. It’s not always very different. But the reality is always slightly off from your expectations. This feels disconcerting at first, and you don’t know whether to feel excited or disappointed at the disconcertion, so you choose excitement.

You thought Turkey was in the Middle East: it is, but it’s also in Europe, and it feels similar to other European cities you’ve visited. You thought the Middle East meant Arabic: it’s embarrassing to admit this, but it’s true. Not that it was a conscious association between the two. Just a blurry conflation. You thought they ate hummus in Turkey: actually they make pretty shitty hummus, and only occasionally at that. Hummus is Arabic; Turkey is not. You thought the Middle Eastern/Arabic world was developing, “in touch with its roots” (which is a euphemism for "traditional," whatever that means) so you thought Turkey was developing, “in touch with its roots,” traditional: it is, and it isn’t. Istanbul is very much developed. Over-developed, maybe. More fancy shopping malls than you can stand.

You’re embarrassed that you were so ignorant. You don’t want to rely on bad thinking and stereotypes and you’re happy to be learning about Turkey as a country. You are determined to learn more, to not be so arrogant.

You learn a bit more about Turkish culture, and the first things you learn are, of course, national symbols: çay, simit, headscarves, dolmuş, ayran, döner kebap, Atatürk, kilim, the call to prayer, evil eyes, baklava. Within one month you learn how to speak Turkish, you master the entire transportation system (ferries / buses / metro / trams / funicular / dolmuş / taxi / foot), you know the best food and you can confidently spot something in the street that’s “so Turkish.” You have conquered the Turkish nation within this time.

By the time you have been here for one-and-a-half months you have realized that your excitement at knowing Turkey so completely was a bit premature. First of all, you only know Istanbul, not all of Turkey, and second of all, you don’t know Istanbul. You have learned a bit about it, enough to survive. You do not truly understand what it is to be born here. You don’t know Turkey. You are determined to learn more, to not be so arrogant.

But now you are a bit confused. You still haven’t read a comprehensive history of the Turkish state because you are still lazy and you are still procrastinating on getting that book from the library. But now you do know a couple things that are pretty interesting. One of these things is that when they called this bounded piece of land Türkiye they made some pretty major changes: Arabic script changed to Latin; Greece and Turkey engaged in a casual population exchange so there would only be Turks living in Turkey and no Greeks living there; Arabic and Persian words were deleted from the Turkish language so that it could be completely Turkish. You also understand something about ethnic diversity being denied? You’ve heard about the Kurds and the Alevis and the Armenians and you’ve also heard that at some point everyone was only allowed to call themselves ethnically Turkish and you’re not sure to what degree that’s still the case.

That’s all you know for now, but you want to learn more, because it seems weird that a nation can be imposed so arbitrarily. It seems weird that an area known for its cultural and ethnic diversity can put imaginary lines down on a map (you’ve always had trouble with the concept of state borders) and call everyone within those lines “Turkish” even though that’s actually a really untrue statement. You wonder how many aspects of Turkish culture are real and how many are fake. Of course, you now realize that classifications of “real” or “fake” are simplistic and miss the point.

You’re also now a bit confused about the role of Atatürk. His face is everywhere, blue eyes gazing sternly from under those funky eyebrows. His presence is everywhere, his face grafittied onto walls, his signature tattooed onto teenagers’ forearms. Everyone loves him. His mausoleum is like a temple. You have noticed that he is almost a cult. You notice that in a way he has come to symbolize the Turkish nation. All other symbols are nothing beside him. His omnipresent face begins to remind you of Big Brother, but you know that's also simplistic.

You are very cautious now about forming opinions because you know that mostly, you don't know much about what it is to actually live in Turkey, and your opinions are probably misinformed and will probably change soon anyway. You’re trying to figure out Atatürk’s role in shaping Turkish culture. You’re trying to figure out how the government has used symbols of Turkish tradition and culture to encourage nationalism. You’re trying to figure out what it means to be Turkish. You’re trying to figure out a lot of stuff and you feel stupid a lot of the time, but at least you’re learning.

"PREPARING VISITORS FOR THE SPIRITUAL PRESENCE OF ATATÜRK"

Atatürk's Mausoleum