The course offers an overview of the most important political, social and economic developments in Turkey since World War II. It will consist of twelve sessions, each of which will be deveoted to a specific topic. Although the basic approach is thematic, the topics have also been arranged in roughly chronological order. Each session will start off with a 45 minute lecture by Zürcher, in which the historical context of the topic will be sketched. After a coffee break, the session will then continue with the study of a key primary text from the era. With one exception tehse texts are in Turkish and students will be asked both to translate and analyze the texts. A complete set of the texts will be made available before the start of the course. The course is open to MA and M.Phil students and to selected seniors.
Timetable
For the most recent update of the timetable click here
Programme
- The transition to multi-party democracy
Text: Dörtlü Takrir (the memorandum of the Four), June 1945
- The transition to multi-party democracy
- The state of the Turkish economy after World War II
Text: “Recommendations” from the Thornburg-Report , 1949 [in English]
- The state of the Turkish economy after World War II
- Turkey’s integration with the West
Text: Speech by Adnan Menderes to the NATO council in Paris (December 1957)
- Turkey’s integration with the West
- The Cyprus conflict
Text: Report for the Martial Law authorities on the “Kıbrıs Türktür Cemiyeti” (1956)
- The Cyprus conflict
- The army in politics (1960-1997)
Text: Proclamation of the National Unity Committee (27 May 1960) and speech by Gen. Kenan Evren (12 September 1980)
- The army in politics (1960-1997)
- Political radicalism in the Sixties and Seventies
Text: Pamphlet against the visit of the Sixth Fleet to Istanbul (1969)
- Political radicalism in the Sixties and Seventies
- Labour migration in Turkey and to Europe.
Text: Letter from the Turkish embassy (1964) and instructions from the Dutch liaison office in Ankara (1969)
- Labour migration in Turkey and to Europe.
- The rise of political Islam
Text: Erbakan Anadolu tüccarını cihada davet ediyor, (MNP publication from 1970)
- The rise of political Islam
- Turgut Ozal’s economic revolution
Text: Speech van Ozal: Türkiye, Dünya ve Gelecek (1990) en 24 Ocak ve Kayıplarımız (Türk-İş, 1993).
- Turgut Ozal’s economic revolution
- The Kurdish question
Text: Excerpt from Mehmet Ali Birand, Apo ve PKK (1992)
- The Kurdish question
- Turkey and the European Union
Text: Hakan Yılmaz, Indicators of Euroskepticism in the Turkish public opinion (2003) [in English]
- Turkey and the European Union
- Secularism and religion
Text: Excerpt from the TESEV report by Binnaz Toprak and Ali Carkoğlu (2006)
- Secularism and religion
Remarks
Students must be able to read Turkish