Turkey - Crusades to Ottoman Empire to Ataturk and Modern Turkey
By Red Sox Steve
Before the 9th century, much farther to the east in the Aral and Caspian sea regions, nomadic peoples migrated towards Persia, adopting Islam and eventually invading and defeating the Persian empire in the 11th century. This emerging power eventually took Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and Iran. This expanding empire, who in 1071 defeated the Byzantine army at Manzikert (Anatolia), were known as the Seljuk Turks, and their influence in the region grew for another 15 years, setting the stage for the religiously oriented conflicts known as the Crusades.
A new dynasty ruled the Byzantine empire starting in 1057 known as the Konmenian dynasty. In the west, Konmenian emperor Alexios I faced an invading Norman army in the Balkans and Greece in the early 1080s. In 1091, Alexios defeated the Pechenegs, invading Constantinople from the Balkans. In the east, much territory was lost to the Byzantines, now controlled by the Seljuk Turks. In March 1095, Alexios sought assistance from Pope Urban II at the papal Council of Piacenza (northern Italy). By November that same year, another papal council, the Council of Clermont (France) was called to implore clergy and noblemen from Western Europe to recover the lost land (known as the "Holy Land") from the occupying Muslims.
Horses, armor and soldiers were quickly assembled, and, even before the knights were off to Constantinople, a righteous army of 30,000 peasants led by a man named Peter the Hermit marched east in 1096. During their journey, they harassed Jewish communities in France, considering it part of their holy mission to free Jerusalem. The peasants moved across the Bosporus strait and into Constantinople. In the mountains of western Turkey, just 100 miles east of Constantinople, nearly the entire force was wiped out by the Turks.
Before the end of 1096, the Knights' Crusade left France, swearing an oath of allegiance to Alexios when they reached Constantinople. The knights were in a much better position to be successful against the Turks in the mountainous region where the peasants were defeated. The knights made their way towards Antioch, at the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean. Although the knights were able to occupy Antioch, they soon were threatened by the presence of greater numbers of Seljuk Turks, coming from as far as Baghdad and Mosul in Iraq. The Crusaders were able to defeat the Turks and continue moving south towards Jerusalem, reaching the holy city in 1099.
In three days the Crusaders were able to break down Jerusalem's gates and walls and enter the city the Pope discussed at the Council of Clermont 4 years prior. In the name of Christianity, the invaders murdered almost everyone they found: Turks, Arabs, and Jews. Thousands were slaughtered by Christian knights acting in the name of God.
In 1118, Alexios died, and was succeeded by his son John II Konmenos, who immediately began to work to unravel Turkish control over Byzantium. John fought against the Petchenegs in the Balkans and was able to bring Serbia under Byzantine control. In seeking to undo the damage to the Byzantine empire since the Battle of Manzikert decades earlier, John fought against the Turks in Armenian Cilicia in 1137 and Antioch in 1138, before his death in 1143.
John chose his fourth son, Manuel, to be heir to the kingdom. Manuel aggressively sought territory in the west and east. He allied with the crusaders in Jerusalem, and fought the Fatimids in Egypt. He also strengthened his control over Antioch and Jerusalem through agreements with the rulers of each. Manuel invaded Hungary in 1167, and controlled much of the eastern Adriatic by 1168. Because Manuel had forged successful relationships with the Pope and other Western Christian leaders, the Second Crusade was able to pass through Byzantium without trouble. Manuel was defeated by the Turks in subsequent battles, however when he died in 1180 western Asia minor was still in Byzantine hands.
When Manuel died, the throne was left to his 11-year-old son Alexios II Komnenos. Andronikos I Komnenos, a grandson of Alexios I, was able to overthrow his relative and obtain the throne for himself, and ultimately took Alexios' 12-year-old wife for himself. Although Andronikos instituted governmental reforms and tried to eradicate government corruption, his rule was also characterized by increasing brutality and military incompetence. Finally, in 1185, he was removed from power by Isaac II Angelos of the Angeli dynasty.
Before the end of the 12th century, the Byzantine empire was clearly weakened. Not only had it lost territory in Bulgaria, but the Third Crusade taken up by the English and French thrones, proved to be a disaster for the Christians. After much of the Christian army drowned at sea, English king Richard signed a treaty in 1192 with the Sultan Saladin, a Kurdish Muslim, keeping Jerusalem in Muslim hands.
The circumstances surrounding the Fourth Crusade led to the invasion and occupation of Constantinople before the crusaders proceeded to the Holy Land. For a number of decades, Venetian merchants and traders were thought by the Greeks, the Pope and the Byzantine empire to be businessmen of little scruple and ill repute. In addition, the Venetians had a close relationship with Cairo, the major city of the Levant empire (Eastern Mediterranean), controlled by the Muslims. In spite of this, Pope Innocent III promised to pay the Venetians to transport the crusading armies to the Holy Land (Jerusalem).
Because some of the crusade's leaders married into the Byzantine ruling family, they were easily convinced to divert their forces to Constantinople. Alexios Angelos, son of deposed Byzantine emperoro Isaac II Angelos sought crusader assistance with overthrowing the emperor Alexios III. Constantinople was undefended and Alexios III fled - Alexios Angelos ruled as Alexios IV starting in 1203. By April 1204, Alexios IV had been imprisoned and murdered, and Constantinople was under attack by the crusaders. On April 14, 1204, Constantinople had been destroyed. Venetian pirates and crusaders ravaged the city, looted major artifacts (which found their way to Europe) and murdered the city's inhabitants. The most powerful city in the world was destroyed and the empire it controlled was fragmented.
Constantinople was ruled by an emperor from Flanders (France) and a patriarch from Venice, while Byzantine rule was continued in Nicaea (western Anatolia), Trebizond (northeastern Anatolia) and Epirus (western Greece). Much of Anatolia was now controlled by the Seljuk Turks, with the land under their control being known as the Sultanate of Rum ("Rum" is Arabic for "Rome"). Because it could not withstand Mongol invasion, the Sultanate was further weakened and Anatolia grew more divided. Before the end of the 13th century monarchical alliances would form among the remaining territories and their neighbors, but ultimately the Byzantine empire would never be restored, nor would its relationship with the western Christian church.
As the Sultanate of Rum grew weaker, a new tribe, founded by one of the Sultan's subordinates was able to amass power in Anatolia. Because this emerging leader was able to conquer so much of the Byzantine empire and amass a great deal of its wealth, he was able to attract the adventurous and bellicose Ghazi warrior-mercenaries. This leader was called Estugrul, and the dynasty he sired was known as the Osmanli dynasty based on his son's name, Osman. Osman would later become king of the dynasty, and the dynasty's name was later corrupted by the Europeans coming to be known as the Ottoman Dynasty.
Ottomans were converts to Sunni Islam, and many saw themselves as protectors of the faith. Osman was the son-in-law of a Sufi shaykh, a spiritual leader in Ottoman society. Osman and his son Orhan (r. 1324–c. 1359) were military leaders who guided their troops into battle. Ottoman territories grew into Europe with the conquest of Gallipoli (Greece) in 1354. The following sultan, Murad I, continued Ottoman expansion into the Balkans and Anatolia, taking Adrianople and Ankara; in 1389, the Ottomans were victorious at the Battle of Kosovo. Slowly the Byzantine empire was digested by its Ottoman conquerors. The Ottoman empire would control this region until the early part of the 20th century.
The assistance of the Roman church in fighting the Ottomans, although sought by Byzantine emperors, was spurned by the Orthodox commoners and clergy - much of the west did not act while the Ottomans subsumed Byzantium. Constantinople of 1453 bore little resemblance to the city it once was - 80,000 of the sultan's soldiers attacked the city, in spite of the efforts of a resistance force of about 9,000 Christians. By May 29, 1453, Constantinople belonged to the Ottomans. The city's new name, Istanbul, grew more popular after Ottoman occupation. Istanbul is a Turkish word used colloquially since the 10th century, and derives from Greek: "στην Πόλι" [stinˈboli] ("in the city", "to the city" or "downtown").
One of the sources of instability during the Ottoman empire was the rights of succession among siblings. In 1481, the new Ottoman emperor, Bayezid II first had to battle his brother Cem (Jem) for rights to the throne. Cem had taken Bursa (western Turkey) naming himself Sultan of Anatolia. Cem fled to Cairo and later returned for eastern Anatolia, but was again forced to flee. After Bayezid had gained undisputed control, he was able to extend the Ottoman empire to Peloponnesos and coastal Adriatic towns. By 1511, alliances of Mameluks (Syrian and Egyptian peoples) and Persians had been vanquished by the Ottoman empire as well.
By 1512, Bayezid's son Selim had risen to power after his brother Ahmet was killed. In 1516, Selim defeated the Mamluks and was able to gain control of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The final Abbasid caliph (head of state), al-Mutawakkil, was captured and taken to Istanbul. He died in 1543, ending the Abbasid line of the caliphate. Selim confronted Mamluks outside Cairo, and by 1517, Egypt came under Ottoman rule. The Ottomans now controlled land from the Balkans to the Nile including Mecca and Medina (both in Saudi Arabia, Mecca was where the prophet Mohammed began Islam in the 7th century) . Although the sultans would later claim the title of caliph, it held little sway; however, the Ottomans strongly believed they were the protectors of the Islamic world and the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Selim's only son Suleiman, inherited a powerful and wealthy empire, ruling for 46 years and continuing the Ottoman tradition of territorial conquest. Suleiman took Rhodes (Greek island) and Belgrade (Serbia), subsequently confronting the powerful Habsburg dynasty of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire. Suleiman allied with French rulers against the Habsburgs, and the Venetians vacillated between joining with either the Habsburgs or the Ottomans to counter the other's desire for expansion. Suleiman occupied Buda and Pest in Hungary, fought with the Russians in the Balkans and attacked Vienna as well as Baghdad.
The Ottoman empire controlled much of the Mediterranean as well - the admiral in chief of the navy, Khair ad Din, came to be known as Barbarossa, "Red Beard," as the Ottoman fleet defeated the Austrian fleet of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and safely evacuated Muslims and Jews from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. Ottoman dominance and a desire to protect its empire prevented western European nations from engaging or crossing the empire in silk and spice trade - nations like Portugal were forced to seek other routes for trade, unable and unwilling to cross the Ottoman empire. On the other hand, the resources of the mighty empire were strained, controlling territory on its western side as well its eastern side.
The 17th century saw an initial and continuing ascent of Ottoman dominance, however, before the end of the century a number of forces working together repressed Ottoman desire for continued expansion. Military technology throughout western Europe was improving - while the Ottomans were successful in close combat and large numbers, the use of gunpowder and other types of artillery by the Europeans led to more successful military campaigns. Furthermore, the population of the empire was around 30 million - land was scarce putting more pressure on the government.
The latter half of the 17th century is known as the Köprülü Era (1656–1703) - control of the Ottoman Empire was effectively managed through the highest ranking minister under the sultan, known as a Grand Vizier. During this era, the sequence of Grand Viziers came from the Köprülü family. The first Grand Vizier, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, took office on September 15, 1656 and was guaranteed unprecedented authority and freedom from interference. Köprülü Mehmed, and his son and successor, Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed, were able to restore Ottoman authority in Transylvania, conquer Crete, and move into the Ukraine, all by 1676.
The renewed growth of Ottoman power in its European territories came to a sudden and definitive end when Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha attempted another attack on Vienna in May 1683. The Habsburgs, Germans and Polish were allied against the Ottomans, and the Ottoman army was defeated at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. After an additional 15 years of warfare in the region, the Ottomans were forced to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz (January 26, 1699), surrendering control of many European territories including Hungary which it held for 145 years prior.
The early part of the 18th century saw more change in Ottoman control of its northern territories. In 1718, the Ottomans entered into the Treaty of Passarowitz with the Habsburgs and the Republic of Venice. As a result of the conflict that took place from 1714-1718, parts of Serbia and Bosnia were lost to the empire. The Treaty of Belgrade (September 18, 1739) was a result of the two-year Austro-Turkish War, (1737-1739) between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy on the other. The Habsburgs were forced to give Northern Serbia back to the Ottomans, in addition to other territories. On October 3, 1739, the Ottomans and Russians entered into the Treaty of Nissa (central Anatolia) as a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739). The Austrian retreat and resulting Treaty of Belgrade in the Austro-Turkish conflict also forced Russia to cede control of Crimea and Moldavia. As a result, Russia was allowed to construct a port at Azov (NE Black Sea), but not fortify its position there or put a navy in the Black Sea.
Some historians call the era from 1699 until the start of the Russo-Turkish war in 1828 a stagnation period for the empire. It was stifled from further expansion, however it was also able to retain much of its territory. When the Russians supported Greek independence in 1828, however, a period of decline of the Ottoman empire was underway. Over the course of two centuries prior, the Russians had fought the Ottoman empire in the Balkans numerous times, the most recent being a result of encouragement by Napoleon of the Sultan Selim III to declare war on Russia in 1806. However, in 1828, after the Russians captured Balkan territory they moved towards Adrianople, and threatened the Ottomans into signing the 1829 Treaty of Adrianople. As a result, Russia controlled the mouth of the Danube River and had access to the Straits of Constantinople, all while acknowledging Greek independence. Although it controlled less territory, it also had become interwoven into post-French Revolutionary Europe - the new era of governmental reform and dissolution of power sweeping through Europe would soon pass through this once mighty Sultanate.
In April 1823, Abdülmecid, son of then Sultan Mahmud II was born in Istanbul. He was well educated and was raised in a manner similar to that of a Western prince. Abdülmecid was fluent in Arabic, Persian, and French, was an accomplished calligrapher, and had connections with the Mevlevi Order of dervishes (a connection to his native Turkish culture). He read European literature and listened to Western classical music. Historians describe the physically frail Abdülmecid as polite, passionate, and just. When his father died in 1839, he took over the reins of the Ottoman Empire. This period in Ottoman history is known as the "Tanzimat", from Arabic Tanzîmât, meaning "reorganization".
Partly because of his enlightened path and knowledge of Europe and partly because of the empire's declining military abilities, Abdülmecid allied with the British, French and others in the Crimean war against the Russians in 1853. Domestically, he oversaw extensive governmental reform as well. In 1840 the Postal Ministry was founded; in 1857, the Education Ministry. A Penal Code (1840), Law of Commerce (1850), and Land Law (1858) were imported from the West as well. Before dying at the age of 39, Abdülmecid also established schools of teaching (1847), agriculture (1847), forestry (1859), and political science (1859). During this time, the first privately owned Turkish newspaper in the empire, Ceride-i Havadis (Journal of news), began publishing as well. Economically, the empire issued its first banknotes in 1839 and incurred external debt for the first time in 1854.
After Abdülmecid died, Tanzimat reforms continued. Christian millets (a legally protected religious minority) were able to institute the Armenian National Constitution in 1863. The document was taken from a "Code of Regulations" made of 150 articles drafted by an "Armenian intelligentsia", and served as a foundation for the Armenian National Assembly. The most significant achievement, however, of the reformist period was the creation of a Constitution, called the Kanûn-ı Esâsî ("Basic Law" in Ottoman Turkish), written by the Young Ottomans (young, westernized intellectuals), and put forth on November 23, 1876. It established freedom of belief and equality of all citizens before the law.
Nationalist movements and governmental reforms also served to undermine the empire's reach. Out of a conflict between Russia and the Ottoman empire in 1877 and the resulting Berlin Treaty of 1878, Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro were given freedom as independent nation-states and autonomy was granted to Bulgaria. Therefore, many Orthodox Christians in the Balkans were granted independence. Although the formation of nation-states implies ethnic homogeneity, there were a number of ethnicities, languages and cultures within these nations. In 1877 in Bulgaria, the Bulgarians were a minority in a country with over 10 other ethnic groups including Turks, Greeks and Romanians. Ironically, the only relatively religiously homogeneous nations in the Balkans today are Turkey (Muslims) and Greece (Orthodox Christians). Cyprus was lent to the British in 1878 in exchange for favors to the empire at the Congress of Berlin. Egypt was occupied in 1882 by British forces on the pretext of bringing order; Egypt and Sudan remained Ottoman provinces until 1914.
In the view of Abdülhamid II (r 1876 - 1909), the Ottoman empire was a European empire whose only difference was that it had more Muslims than Christians. Partly as a result of its Muslim orientation, introduction of westernized reforms into the Ottoman empire were difficult. Abdülhamid worked with a group of Ottoman intellectuals to arrange a government more appropriate for a non-western democracy. However, during this time, a movement led by Turkish muslims outside the country sought to replace the sultanate with a constitutional monarchy. Although many Europeans identified the Young Turk movement with liberalism, the organization itself was not liberal, and only sought to adopt a constitutional government to keep the British, French and Russians at bay. In 1889, the major Young Turk organization, known as the Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was formed. The CUP faced opposition from members of the sultan's family as well as Armenians, Albanians and Greeks, who sought to overthrow the sultan with British assistance. Under Ahmed Riza, the CUP rejected any foreign intervention in the political affairs of the empire.
In 1905, another Young Turk leader, Dr. Bahaeddin Şakir, sought to reorganize the activist alliances. The resulting organization, which had branches in Crete, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania and the Caucasus to name but a few, had changed its name slightly becoming the Ottoman Committee of Progress and Union (CPU). By early 1908, after absorbing a number of other Young Turk movements, the CPU had approximately 2,000 members, also consisting of many officers in the military. In June 1908, the CPU began revolutionary activities, and by late July, the sultan ordered a restoration of the constitution that had been suspended since 1876. By December 1908, the CPU, now acting under its former name, CUP, had won a landslide victory allowing it to control the legislature.
When Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in June 1914 in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary insisted that all pro-Serbian separatist activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina come to an end. When Serbia refused to comply, five major European powers were soon involved, starting World War I. On one side were Germany and Austria-Hungary (Central Powers), and on the other were Britain, France, and Russia (Entente Powers, joined by the US in 1917). The Ottoman Empire initially declared its neutrality, but on August 2, 1914, Enver Pasha (1881–1922), minister of war and CUP member, signed a secret agreement with Germany pledging the Ottoman Empire would ally with the Central Powers.
Two German warships entered Ottoman waters on August 11, 1914 to escape the British Mediterranean fleet. The British demand that the Ottomans confiscate the ships or force them out of Ottoman waters were rebuffed by the Ottoman government. Instead, Istanbul announced it purchased both ships - the crews were dressed in Ottoman uniforms and Admiral Wilhelm Souchon was appointed commander of the Ottoman navy in the Black Sea. When Souchon, under direct orders from Enver, bombarded Russian bases along the Black Sea and sank Russian ships in October, the Ottoman empire was officially at war.
Because of the size of the empire, the Ottomans were forced to fight in a number of areas. Unfortunately, their resources had been weakened by the Balkan wars of 1912-1913, and less than ideal infrastructure slowed down troop movement. The Ottomans fought the Russians in Europe (Galicia between July 1916 and August 1917, Romania between August 1916 and May 1918, and Macedonia between September 1916 and March 1917). The Ottoman armies were unsuccessful against the Russian armies until revolution broke out in Russia in 1917, and against the British until an armistice was declared.
One of the most significant events of World War I was the Turkish victory against the British and French in Gallipoli (Greek for "beautiful city, western Turkey). Among other reasons, this victory is notable in Turkish history because it gave rise to a local hero. This hero was in charge of the 19th Division attached to the Fifth Army during the battle of Gallipoli. In Gallipoli, he was known for being able to correctly anticipate Allied attacks and hold position until they retreated. When the war ended in 1918 he was 37, and was also renowned as an admirer of the European Age of Enlightenment who would bring secular, modernizing reform to the new nation. This hero's name was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 the Ottoman Empire entered into the Treaty of Sevres with the Allies. Some of the critical provisions of the agreement were that the Sultanate could retain Istanbul and minor surrounding territories; furthermore, the shores of the Bosporus and Dardanelles were internationalized to keep the Black Sea open. Ottoman territories were divided among France, Italy and Greece, Istanbul was controlled by the British and French, and Kurds and Armenians were given territory. The Turks were only able to retain a small territory in central Turkey.
In 1919, Kemal traveled to Samsun (Black Sea coast), beginning an effort to resist the occupying nations. He formed a national assembly, became its chairman, and organized a resistance army to throw out foreign invaders. The British, French and Italians capitulated relatively easily, but the Greeks were the most resistant. Greek nationalist movements caused them to seek much of the territory of Asia Minor and as a result they invaded Smyrna (Turkish west coast) in 1919. By 1922, the Turkish army was able to forcibly remove Smyrna from control of the Greeks. In July 1923, an international conference was convened in Lausanne, at which an agreement was reached between Turkey and Britain, France and Russia. A new Turkish state was recognized, and by October the republic of Turkey arose from the ruins of the 600 year old Ottoman Empire.
From the following sources Belliel, Katie. "Atatürk, Kemal." In Ackermann, Marsha E., Michael Schroeder, Janice J. Terry, Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur, and Mark F. Whitters, eds. Encyclopedia of World History: Crisis and Achievement, 1900 to 1950, vol. 5.
He believed that the only way to save his country was to modernize it, and by force if necessary. He moved the capital from Istanbul to Ankara, a centrally located city. He then abolished both the sultanate and the caliphate, and his fight against religion became one of his most contested reforms. He believed that Islam's role in government would prevent the country from modernizing. He was not antireligion but against religious interference in governmental affairs. He closed the religious schools and courts and put religion under state control. He wanted to lessen the religious and ethnic divisions that had been encouraged under the Ottoman system. He wanted the people of Turkey to identify themselves as Turks first. He established political parties and a national assembly based on the parliamentary system. He also implemented the Swiss legal code that allowed freedom of religion and civil divorce and banned polygamy.Atatürk banned the fez for men and the veil for women and encouraged Western-style dress. He replaced the Muslim calendar with the European calendar and changed the working week to Monday through Friday, leaving Saturday and Sunday as the weekend. He hired expert linguists to transform the Turkish alphabet from Arabic to Latin script based on phonetic sounds and introduced the metric system. As surnames did not exist until this time, Mustafa Kemal insisted that each person and family select a surname. He chose Atatürk, which means "father of the Turks."
Some of his most profound reforms, however, were in regard to women. Atatürk argued that no society could be successful while half of the population was hidden away. He encouraged women to wear European clothing and to leave the harems. Turkey was one of the first countries to give women the right to vote and hold office in 1930. He also adopted several daughters. One of them, Sabiha Gokcen, became the first woman combat pilot in Turkey.
These reforms did not come easily and in many cases garnered little support. Many religious and ethnic groups such as the Sufi dervishes and Kurds staged rebellions and were ruthlessly put down. Other minority groups suffered or were exiled as a result of the new government.
When Ataturk died in 1938, his prime minister İsmet İnönü became Turkey's second president and chairman of the Republican People's Party (RPP). Inonu resisted the pressure applied to it by both Axis and Allied powers to join the second world war, and remained neutral throughout almost the entire war. Turkey did, however, symbolically declare war on Germany and Japan in 1945 to satisfy eligibility requirements for becoming a founder of the United Nations. In 1946, Inonu allowed for political pluralism and created the Democratic Party. Turkey held the first free elections in its history, and by 1950, the Democrats had won. Turkey further gained legitimacy as a democratic nation when Inonu resisted the urging of military conservatives to remain in power, and instead stepped down as the Democratic party took control.
Celal Bayar became president, and Adnan Menderes became prime minister during an economic boom that was also supported by US financial aid under the Truman Doctrine. In 1952 Turkey had become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), mostly because it immediately volunteered troops for the Korean War. Turkey's entry into NATO ensured protection along its borders and allowed NATO a closer position against the USSR.
After the 1954 elections the Democrats became more authoritarian. Conflict between the Greeks and Turks fomented as a result of the bombing of the Turkish consulate in Thessalonica, and in Cyprus which had an 80 percent Greek population but was under British control. Riots were targeted against Greek homes and businesses throughout Istanbul, and as a result many Turkish citizens of Greek origin fled.
Because of its membership in NATO, the Turkish military was a very strong institution within the nation, and it supported the Republicans, leading to the overthrow of the Menderes (Democrat) government in 1960. Because the Democrats had repressed students, they were in favor of the coup, despite the military's role in it. Menderes had employed authoritarian techniques to retain control of the government, but was ultimately unable to do so - he was tried and executed in 1961. In January of that same year, political activity was again opened up and 11 new parties registered for elections, in spite of the increased role of the military in political and constitutional affairs.
In 1965 the Justice Party (a descendant of the Democratic Party), led by Süleyman Demirel, won a major victory in elections. They pushed a belief system based on Islamic thought which ran counter to communist and leftist ideologies. Simultaneously, the left grew increasingly popular among the students and working classes. By 1968, two strong, Islamic-leaning parties, the National Action Party and the National Order Party posed a threat to the Justice Party's hold on government. By 1971, the military had forced the Justice Party from office.
The Republican Party was victorious in the free elections held in 1973, but were forced into coalition governments as they were unable to garner a clear majority. Not only did rightist and leftist tensions escalate throughout the 1970s, but a Kurdish separatist movement arose as well. Kurdish nationalist Abdullah Öcalan formed the left-leaning Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) in 1978. As a result of the revolution in Iran in 1979, Islamic groups in Turkey were under suspicion of receiving support from Iran. Tensions ran high throughout the country, especially in the Islamic conservative city of Konya where the military was forced to intervene in September 1980. About 5,000 people died as a result of violence throughout Turkey.
Martial law and curfews were imposed by the military in 1980 as a result of unrest, and all political parties were abolished. General Kenan Evren was declared head of state, while the National Security Council arrested 122,000 to stem the violence. In 1982, a new constitution was put in place while the military began to restructure the political system. By 1983, elections were again held with the Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi) gaining the majority under Turgut Özal. Turgut Özal became president in 1989, and has been credited with privatizing much of the state owned economy (today 70% of land in Turkey is still owned by the government), and he openly desired to transform Turkey into a "little America."
After the 1980 coup, the Kurdish identity was nearly abolished, and until 1991, Turkey didn't refer to them as Kurds, but rather as "mountain Turks." The government forbade their language, songs, customs, and names. After the U.S. defeat of Iraq in 1991, Turkey resisted the creation of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq out of fear it would be used as a base for attacks on Turkey. As a result of this, President Özal officially recognized the Kurds and allowed the Kurdish language to be used in everyday conversations but not any official business or governmental proceeding.
These efforts did little to quench Kurdish desire for further recognition - the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), under the leadership of the militant Abdullah Öcalan continued committing atrocities against Turkey, reducing their popularity among Turkish citizens. Kurdish factions in Iran and Kurds living throughout the Middle East and in Europe came to the aid of the PKK, which is currently considered an active terrorist organization by the United States and the EU. The PKK used guerrilla warfare to launch attacks within Turkey and the Turkish army responded by destroying Kurdish villages and arresting, detaining and torturing thousands. In 1999, Öcalan was captured in Nairobi, Kenya by Turkish commandos, sentenced to death and imprisoned on an island in the Marmara Sea.
In 1993, Turkey elected its first female prime minister, Tansu Ciller, and in 1996 its first Islamic prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan. Erbakan sought to free the restrictions imposed on Islam by the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs, and to change working hours during Ramadan. He also proposed lifting the ban against wearing headscarves in universities and government institutions. The Erbakan/Çiller coalition, borne partly out of an investigation into corruption by PM Ciller and her husband, sought to improve relations with Libya and Iran, while condemning Israel. Furthermore, many Islamic leaders expressed long-silent opinions on their desire to abolish the Swiss legal code instituted by Ataturk and return to Islamic law.
In 1998, Bülent Ecevit of the Democratic Left Party emerged as the new president, mostly due to his handling of Öcalan and the Kurds a decade earlier. In 2002, partly due to inadequate governmental and military response to a devastating 1999 earthquake near Istanbul, the Justice and Development Party (JDP) emerged as a political frontrunner. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the JDP leader, won a majority in the Grand National Assembly. In 2005, Erdogan and the JDP achieved a monumental goal for Turkey when the EU decided to start Turkey down the road to integration as an EU member. In 2007, Prime Minister Erdogan was re-elected, and his party won 340 out of 550 parliamentary seats. Former JDP deputy leader Abdullah Gul was elected to the presidency by parliament in 2007.
Should Turkey be part of the European Union?
The European Union is the most modern form of international governance among secular, representative democracies today. It works well for a few reasons: It makes sure to incorporate the multiple languages and cultures in Europe into its inner workings and it has a 6 month rotating presidency, giving all members the chance to rule and ratify various treaties and amendments. Furthermore, because of a variety of treaties, all members are mandated to adhere to fiscal guidelines, preventing the burgeoning debt load that we experience here in the United States. What I feel is also impressive is that it gives less wealthy European nations (Portugal) a chance to be represented as well as more wealthy nations (France, Germany). It is a way not only for governments to deal directly with each other (similar to the United Nations and the League of Nations before it), but for a representative union to speak to the world. Of course, more powerful EU nations have a more influential voice in international affairs, especially economic and military ones. On the other hand, smaller, less developed nations also share favorable political and economic relationships with their wealthy counterparts, as mandated by various EU treaties.
Turkey has to pursue a path that is best for itself. Turks have a right to pursue a self-determining path, similar to every other nation on earth, subject to many other conditions which I won't discuss here. From what I've read, there was initial support in Turkey for its EU membership in 2005, however, that has waned. Turkey, like the Ottoman Empire before it and the Eastern Roman Empire before that, finds itself at the "pivot point" between the Eastern and Western worlds. Modern Turkey (post WWI), although at times pursuing a secular, western path, has been forced to incorporate eastern and islamic cultural and ideological stances as well. On the other hand, it has to do everything it can to cope with Islamic extremism both within its borders and just beyond them. I think it is best that Turkey stay out of the EU, and remain a secular, regional power. The most serious threat to modernity is religiously based nation building. Unfortunately, the Muslim world has many examples of this type of government. Turkey, however, is a secular, sovereign modern nation with a rich history flavored by a Muslim, Christian, Roman and Persian past. By joining the EU, Turkey would, like ALL EU member nations currently, be forced to sacrifice some of its own identity to be an effective union member.
It is beyond tempting to draw on precedent to make an argument for or against Turkey joining the EU - to look at a time or times in Turkey's past and say it would only benefit MORE by allying itself with economically developed EU nations in joining the strongest international governmental institution in the world today. On the other hand, the world of the 21st and 22nd centuries is going to be defined by complex international relationships led by a Chinese & Indian power structure along with an overall trend towards secular government which the extremist Islamic world will have to take part in, either peacefully or forcefully. Seen in this light, it would be better, when the time comes for either a Middle Eastern version of the EU OR for a world government where all nations' interests are sublimated in favor of a global interest, for Turkey to join either of those structures. Because of its history and geography, Turkey would only need to do what it has been doing for millennia now - bridge the gap between Christian and Muslim, Eastern and Western, for the benefit of it and the world.
