The Road to Turkish Language Reform and the Rise of Turkish Nationalism Aaron Johnson Institute of lslamic Studies McGill University, Montreal August 2004 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts O Aaron Johnson 2004 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, 1 would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Professor A. Uner Turgay, for his guidance and encouragement throughout the writing of this thesis. I am also extremely grateful to Salwa Ferahian and Wayne St. Thomas in the Islamic Studies libray for all their assistance in locating sources, and to Ann Yaxley and Kirsty McKinnon for always being there when 1 needed help with the administrative side of things. On a more personal note I would like to thank 6zge Serin for inviting me to Turkey back in 1994 and starting me down this path, and Jonathan Smolin for his advice and encouragement over the years. I am also very grateful to Amelia Gallagher and Faika Celik, who helped me immensely with their proofreading and comments. Finally I would like to thank my wife, Nazak Bijandifar, for putting up with me through the whole writing process and for reminding me to eat and sleep. I could not have done this without her. ABSTRACT This thesis examines the concurrent changes in Turkish identity and in the Turkish language from the early developments in the period of the modernizing Tarcimar reforms to the Anatolian Turkish nationalism and the alphabet and language reform of the Republican era. It looks specifically at how language issues played a large role in the development of Turkish national identity towards the end of the Onoman period, and also examines the development of Onomanism and Islamism. Finally it looks at how the desire to promote secular Turkish nationalism in place of the old Ottoman-Islamic identity was the driving force behind the Kernalist script and language reforms and discusses some of the consequences of these planned changes to the Turkish language and to the basis of Turkish identity. Ce memoire traite des changements qui ont eu lieu en mfme temps dans I'identite tuque et dans la langue turque a panir de la periode de rtfomle et de modemisation du Tanrimat jusqu'au nationalisme turc anatolien et B la reforme de I'alphabet et de la langue dans la periode republicaine. Ce travail etudie spkifiquement le grand r61e que le thtme du langage a joue dans le developpement de l'identitt nationale turque vets la fin de la piriode ottomane, et aussi s'occupe du developpement de l'onomanisme et de I'Islamisme. Finalement, on examine comment le desir de propager le nationalisme turc la'ic en place de l'ancienne identiti ottomane-lslamique a motid les reformes kdmalistes de I'alphabet et de la langue, et on termine avec une discussion de quelques consequences de ces changements planifiCs par rapport A la langue et B la base de I'identitC tuque. CONTENTS Introduction Chapter One: The T~zimuatn d the Young Ottomans The Tanrimat and Onomanism The Tmimar Refonns. Western Influences and Modernization The Onoman Turkish Language The RireofTurkisb Book Publishing The Binh ofTurki~hJ oumali~m The Young Dnomans Early Effans at Script Reform Chapter Two: The Reign of AbdULhnmit Il The Pint Constihltional Period Islamism and Pan-lslamism Hamidian Refoms and Continued Modernization Censorship and Opposition Intellectual and Linguistic Developments Funher Dcvclopmentr in Turkism Chapter Three: The Second Constitutional Period The 1908 Rcvolutioo Twkism and Pan-Twkism The Yeni Lkan Movement and h e rS eyfeddin Ziya Gdkalp and Twkish Nationalism Renewed Effani at Script Reform Chapter Four: Turkish Nationalism and Reform in the Republic The War of Independence and the Establishment of the Republic The New Turkish Nationalism The Early Kemalist Refoms Adoption of the Latin Alphabet Turkish rn Worship The Turkish Historical Society Chapter Five: The Turkish Linguistic Society and Language Reform The Political Sihlation in the 1930s 87 The Language Refom 88 The Sun-Language Theory 94 Chapter Sir: Later Developments Onornsn Continuify in the Turkish Rcpublic The Turkish Language Conclusions 102 Works Cited 105 INTRODUCTION Ottomanism, Pan-Islamism and Pan-Turkism were all doctrines intended to save the Onoman Empire, to halt its fragmentation. They represented different ideas as to what the basis of loyalty should be for the subjects (eventually citizens) of the empire. The changing realities of the time, as the empire continued to lose territory and the Onoman Turks found themselves more and more in the majority in the territory that remained under Ottoman control, eventually led to an increased emphasis on Turkism and finally to Turkish nationalism based on the territory that remained in Anatolia and Thrace. At the same time, the older Onoman-Islamic identity never completely disappeared, despite the Kemalist program of Turkification, secularization and Westernization. Closely linked with the story of the development of Turkish nationalism is the story of Turkish language reform, all of which is also tied up with the rapid growth of Turkish publishing activity in the last century of the empire. According to Geoffrey Lewis, The spirit of the Tanzimat ... gave rise to the first serious stirrings of Turkish nationalism and to a flowering ofjournalism, and from then on the tide of language reform flowed strongly.' This increase in publishing activity provided a new forum for the spread of political ideas, ' Geofiey Lewis, The Twkirh Lanpoge Reform: A Colmlrophie Success (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 12. I and at the same time provided an impetus for the simplification of Onoman Turkish that would allow writers and publishers to reach a larger audience. The growing amount of reading material in Turkish also helped, by its mere presence and circulation, to bring about a greater awareness of Turkish identity among its readers. Many of the major figures in the history of Turkish nationalism are also major figures in the history of Turkish language reform, which makes sense since language is often a major ingredient in national identity. As Bemard Lewis writes, For the first signs of a Turkish national consciousness among the Ottoman Muslims we must tum to the intellectual life of the nineteenth centurv, and especially to the writers on history and language." There are a number of books that deal with Turkish language reform or with Turkish nationalism, but there are only a few that treat Turkish language reform and Turkish nationalism together in any detail. In fact, some of the connections made by these authors are rather loosely built. The Developmenf of Secularisn~i~ Turke)' by Niyazi ~erkes'a nd The Emergence ofModern Turkey by Bernard Lewis both include long and very useful sections on nineteenth-century Onoman intellectual history, including much on Imlguage and the early inklings of Turkish nationalism. David Kushner's The Rise of Turkish Nationalism 1876-190p and Masami Arai's Turkish Nafionalism in the Young Turk ~ra' each provide a good amount of detail on the discussions going on in the newspapers and journals over shorter periods, and both books include much on the language issue. Agih Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkq, 3d ed. (New York: Oxford Univeniy Press, 2002); 14, S m L evend's Turk Dilinde Gelijme ve Sadelejme Evreleri (The Stages of Development and Simplification in the Turkish ~ a n ~ u ac~onesi)st~s m ostly of passages that illustrate both the changes that the Turkish language has undergone over time and the debates on the issue up until the actual reforms of the Turkish Republic. For an overview of the reforms in the Turkish Republic, Uriel Heyd's Language Reform in Modern ~urkrJh as been largely surpassed by Geoffrey Lewis' The Turkish Language Reform: A CafasfrophicS uccess, which goes into much more detail and is much more up-to-date. The book's main shoncoming is that Geoffrey Lewis shies away from dealing with the politics behind the reforms. Finally, BiM $im$ir's Turk Yazr Devrimi (The Turkish Alphabet evolution)' provides a detailed account of the switch to the Latin alphabet with copious background information. Whal follows is an examination of the origins of Turkish nationalism and Turkish language reform, and of the concurrent transformation of the Turkish-speaking Muslim subjects of the Ottoman sultan into citizens of the Turkish Republic and of the language of the Onoman coun into the national language of the Turkish Republic. In looking at the stages in these transformations, every effort has been made to give adequate background information on the historical and political situation at the time. Early developn~entsa re not included merely as a "'pre-history" of the Turkish Republic and the Kemalist reforms. However, much of what happened before the Republican period can help explain the issues that still face Turkey today, as there is in fact much more continuity between the * Agah S mL evend. Turk Dilinde Geli~mev e Sodelqme Evrrleri, 3'* cd. (Adera: Turk Dil Kununu Yaymlan, 1972). 'Uriel Heyd, Language Reform in hhdern Turkey (Jerusalem: Israeli Oriental Society. 1954). Bilil N. $lm~ir,T tirk Ya-r Dtyrimi (Ankara:T urk Tarih KumuB asmevi, 1992). Ottoman state and the Turkish Republic than some Kemalists might want to admit. Chapter one gives background information on the Onoman Turkish language and looks at developments up to the first constitutional period (1876-1878), including the Tanzimar reforms, the influence of western-style nationalism, the doctrine of Onomanism, the spread of modem publishing activities, the Young Ottomans, and early efforts to reform the Arabic script. Chapter two covers the Hamidian period (1876-1908) including the 1876 constitution, the official emphasis on Islamism, the continuation of reform, official censorship, the rise of exile opposition groups, the growing interest in the Turkish language issue, and the development of Turkism. Chapter three deals with developments during the second constitutional (Young Turk) period (1908-1918), including Turkism and Pan-Turkism, the emergence of Turkish nationalism, the Yeni Lisan (New Language) movement, Ziya Gokalp's ideas on language and nationalism, and ongoing efforts to reform the Arabic script. Chapter four examines the early reforms of the Turkish Republic and the new territorially-defined Turkish nationalism. The 1928 "alphabet revolution" is discussed in detail, and Kemalist efforts to impose the use of Turkish in worship are also examined, as is the work of the Turkish Historical Society. Chapter five deals with the Turkish Linguistic Society and the later reform that purged the 4