Feroz Ahmad

Turkey in transition : new perspectives

This collection of essays by prominent Turkish scholars provides a comprehensive historical, political, and economic analysis of Turkey from the inception of its republic after World War I right up to the present. The essays--most never before published in English--break away from the conventional analytic approach, which holds the modernization process of 19th-century Europe as a paradigm for all developing countries. Instead, the contributors focus on Turkeys transition to capitalism to reveal other, indigenous paths to development experienced by many non-Western nations. The anthology concludes with an assessment of the past decade and examines future prospects for the nation.

The Young Turk Revolution

The reasons for the outbreaks of July I908 and April I909 in Turkey, which amounted to a constitutional revolution, were complex and varied. Foremost amongst them was the dominance of the court under Abdulhamid, the ruling Sultan. Power was monopolized by a small group around the Palace which took the major decisions of Ottoman politics, but this did not ensure stability and continuity, since grand vezirs and ministers could be changed at will; during Abdulhamids reign there were 28 changes at the grand vezirate. Apart from the obvious shortcomings, such as intrigues, graft, and peculation, the inefficiency and total absence of stability, the main criticism of this system was that it gave the opportunity to participate in political life even nominally to very few. This, at a time when new forces were emerging, was bound to lead to trouble, and slowly the systems critics united against the Palace; when the crisis came the Sultan found himself isolated, unable to turn to or rely upon any outside interest.

Military and Politics in Turkey

There is a widely accepted myth that the roots of Turkey’s army date back to ancient times. Professor Ismail Kayabali and Cemender Arslanoglu claimed on Army Day (26 August 1976) that the Turkish armed forces have served the nation for 2185 years (Kayabali and Arslanoglu). More realistically, we can trace the origins of the modern Turkish army back to the 1820s, when Sultan Mahmud II destroyed the unruly Janissary corps, which had long since lost any military effectiveness, and founded a new Ottoman army on modern lines.

The Young Turks in Opposition.

This is the first in-depth study of the secret society called CUP (Committee of Union and Progress), based on their own papers. It pays special attention to the Young Turks as an intellectual movement which continues to influence the thinking of Turkish intellectuals in the 1990s. It also provides important insights into diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and the so-called Great Powers of Europe at the turn of the century.