SECTION I. SOCIAL CHAPTER 1 GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY Turkey emerged as an independent nation-state immediately after World War I on territory which had been the nucleus of the Ottoman Empire. Its geographical position, centered in the Anatolian peninsula but extending into Europe, accents the contrasting aspects of the society: the difference between an urban, Westernized elite and the rural, tradition-bound majority, between the modernized segments of the economy and a predominantly agricultural system characteristic of the past. It is a country in transition toward the goals of modernization and Westernization, goals established by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk), architect of independence and first President of the Republic. In late 1968 the Justice Party, led by Süleyman Demirel, governed the country as a result of an electoral majority in the 1965 elections. This victory marked a return to a more stable government in the wake of the 1960 military coup ousting the Democrat Party because of its repressive actions against criticism in the late 1950's. Civilian government was restored in 1961, but because no political party won a popular majority in the elections, four coalition governments were formed from 1961 to 1965. Turks are united by a sense of national unity, characterized by pride in the Turkish language and Islam. The society is ethnically homogeneous, because religious and linguistic minorities are relatively small. Shared national identity, however, does not minimize differences in outlook between Westernized city dwellers and tradition-minded villagers, between rulers and the governed. These disparities increased because Turkey is partly in Europe and partly in the Middle East and Asia. In economics, law, government, and diplomacy, Turkey has chosen European models, but the mass of the people are bound to the Middle East by religion and a peasant tradition. Political liberalization after 1946 gave the villagers a political voice. This freedom and the subsequent wooing of the rural vote gave new relevance to the national political system in the eyes of the villagers. Economic development has also brought rural areas more into the mainstream of a national community and has increased communications between city and village. These developments have not, however, eliminated the bi-polar nature of the society. The agricultural sector of the economy predominates, engaging two-thirds of the population. Industrial development, which was retarded by poor planning and implementation and limited resources for three decades, is now proceeding more rapidly. The leadership must confront major economic problems, including planning steady development, a rate of population growth which exceeds the absorptive capacity of the labor market, and continuing inflation. In the agricultural sector, which is in particular need of modernization, the government must cope with resistance to change based on faith in the traditional methods of cultivation (see ch. 19, Agriculture). To help meet these internal economic needs and maintain an adequate defense effort, which lead to balance of payments deficits, the country must rely on outside assistance and loans. United States aid has been considerable since World War II; the European Economic Community (EEC), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, or World Bank) have also provided assistance. Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and an associate of the European Economic Community, has allied itself with the West. To a considerable extent foreign policy is influenced by proximity to the Soviet Union. Russia has been a factor in external relations in the area for three centuries; Turkish control of the Straits, and therefore access to the Mediterranean Sea, was one reason for continuing Russian interest. In 1964 and late 1967 the dispute with Greece over the status of Turks in Cyprus has become a potential causus belli and the leading foreign policy issue. THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE The magnitude of the changes Turkey has undergone since the turn of the century can only be understood against the background of the Ottoman Empire. About A.D. 1,000, tribes of Turks began moving into the Anatolian peninsula. Converts to Islam, they established the tradition of the frontier warrior fighting against the infidel (non-Moslem), a tradition still part of the national heritage. The Turks eventually captured Istanbul (Constantinople) in 1453 and made it the capital of a far-flung empire, which, at its height under Süleyman the Magnificent in the 16th century, included much of the Balkans and stretched south of Anatolia and westward across North Africa as far as, but not including, Morocco. The Sultan-Caliph, who claimed both temporal and religious leadership, headed the state. The essential institutions of the Empire were the military, the bureaucracy, and the ulema (religious council), which in the early imperial period were quite open to talented subjects. Gradually, however, innovations in technique and organization shifted the balance of military power in favor of the European states. Moreover, power had brought corruption to the institutions of the Empire, which were slow to adapt to internal and external problems. For example, a number of the later Sultans were preoccupied only with the luxuries of their position and the once awesome Janissary corps had lost its early zeal and discipline. Unsuccessful efforts were made to arrest the gradual decline and territorial disintegration in the 19th century, when the Ottoman Empire was known as the "Sick Man of Europe." The growth of national movements in the subject territories further weakened the loosely organized imperial structure. At this time Anatolia, the original nucleus of the Empire, was a neglected province, populated by peasants and nomadic tribes who accepted the conditions of their lives as the will of Allah. Certain events, primarily the disaster of World War I and the subsequent occupation of portions of Turkish soil, sparked a sense of national identity which focused upon Anatolia. In a sense, Turkey was the last of the successor states of the Ottoman Empire to arise, for the other provinces and territory had separated earlier, as the Arab provinces had done in the course of World War I. THE NATION AND THE STATE The formal creation of the Turkish Republic on October 29, 1923, marked the end of the War for Independence and the beginning of a period of nationbuilding. Defeat as a German ally in World War I brought final destruction to the Ottoman Empire, which had suffered territorial attrition and gradual decline throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Control of Arab territory fell away during the war, and the Treaty of Sèvres, a part of the Versailles settlement, further reduced the territory of Turkey by awarding regions within the Anatolian peninsula to Greece and France; for example, Izmir (Smyrna) was given to Greece and Alexandretta to Syria under the French Mandate. Although the government at Istanbul accepted this treaty, the majority of Turks did not. Claiming legitimacy for the government in Ankara, Kemal Atatürk organized and led armed resistance to foreign troops, chiefly Greek, in Anatolia while gradually moving toward the establishment of a Republic and diplomatic recognition. Following the defeat of the Greeks and the negotiation of a new settlement with the Allies at Lausanne in 1923, Atatürk continued to lead the independent republican Turkey seeking to mold it into a modern nation-state. Subsequent political history falls into three periods. In the first, 1923-1946, the Republican People's Party, led by Kemal Atatürk and Ismet Pasha (Inönü), governed the country. During these years, leaders were preoccupied with the problems of establishing a nation and a secular republic in the place of the Ottoman loyalties and institutions. In the second (1946-60), the country went through a cycle of liberalization and repression. A multiparty system was introduced in 1946, but the Democrat Party, which came to power in 1950, began to restrict political liberties after 1955. The May 27, 1960, military coup ended the First Turkish Republic. The third period began in 1960. A new constitution was written and the Second Turkish Republic was born in 1961, with the return to civilian government. After four coalition governments, the Justice Party won an electoral majority in 1965 which it still holds in late 1968. The First Republic Once he had secured national independence, Atatürk swept aside the old political institutions, separated state and religion, and began a comprehensive series of reforms designed to create a nation politically, socially, and economically modernized along the lines of the Western European states. The Latin alphabet replaced the Arabic script; European legal codes replaced the traditional religious law; and religious brotherhoods were closed as part of a number of changes imposed from the top within a oneparty state. The historic contributions of the Turks were also stressed and sometimes exaggerated as part of an effort to foster nationalism. An inadequate transportation and communication system, limited financial resources, and shortage of well-trained personnel combined to confine the immediate impact of the reforms largely to the cities, while life in rural areas continued as it had for centuries. This enhanced the existing dichotomy between the city and village. Only after World War II did economic development and political innovations bring the national government and the culture of the cities closer to the villages. Expansion of the highway system increased communications between areas of the country and fostered increased national integration. The introduction of multiparty system brought increased political power for the villagers, as parties competed for votes. Certain of the Atatürk reforms were modified in this period of political liberalization, most notably those concerned with religion. For example, religious instruction was reintroduced in the |