Turkologentag 2023 21-23 Septembre 2023 Vienne
Panel : The search of origins in the contemporary Turkish society
Turanism, Islamism, and Anatolianism
Organized by Samim Akgönül
During the last century, the search of legitimacy in Asia Minor by diverse aspects of the Turkish nationalism, mobilized several tools in order to recover an original mythical belonging. Among these tools, the reactivation of Central Asian behaviors, especially the reconstruction of Tengrism, plays the same role of Turkish Islamic Fundamentalism in order to find an "asr-i saadet", a lost period of pure happiness. In addition, these two “originisms” being from "elsewhere" (from Central Asia and Arabic peninsula), other strategies have been developed such as Anatolianism, since the defenders of an Anatolian togetherness in 1930's to believers of Anatolian paganism in today's Turkey. This panel will offer 4 communications on different aspects of this search of origins, mainly on the debates of Turkishness of Christian orthodox Karamanlis, on the worship of Hekate in contemporary Turkey, on the reception of the idea of central Asian origins by Turkish intellectuals, and finally on the fundamentalist movements in contemporary Turkey pretexting, again, an original belonging.
Samim Akgönül
From Cübbeli Ahmet Hoca to Adnan Hoca : on Turkish paradoxes of the quest of Asr-i Saadet
Turkish brotherhoods are at the center of political and social debate since the beginning of the Republic but especially since 1950’s where the strong Sunni order Naqshbandiya started to come back to the political center. This march in direction of the heart of the power succeeded in 1980’s with the arrival of Turgut Özal as first Prime Minister then President. Since then, several brotherhoods claimed the keep the original will of the Prophet, thus the political legitimacy especially through the political and social controversy on the gulenist movement. In this communication I will especially scrutinize two cults having the pretention of detaining the truth, Cübbeli Ahmet Hoca (close to Ismailaga community a branch of Naqshbandiya ) on the one hand and the rise and fall of Adnan Hoca community, as the main TV show based movements that succeeded to convince beyond their respective adepts.
Aylin De Tapia
The Karamanlis : Christians but first and foremost Anatolians! Essay on the debates about the Anatolian origins of the Turkish-speaking Orthodox Christians
In 1923, following the convention of Lausanne for the exchange of population between Greece and Turkey, the Turkish-speaking Orthodox Christian communities of Turkey, the so-called Karamanlis, were exiled as the other Rums of Anatolia. However, already in the nineteenth century, the Anatolian identity of these Christians was at the heart of Karamanlidika publications and debates about their « Anatolianness » and their « Turkishness » intensified in the 20th century. This presentation will investigate to what extent the Karamanlis considered themselves Anatolians and to what extent debates about their origin and their ethnicity participated in the development of Anatolianism as an ideology.
Onur Bülbül
How to invent Central Asian origins of Turks : the reception of Léon Cahun by two intellectuals of the young Turkish Republic, Ziya Gökalp and Yusuf Akçura
The French orientalist Léon Cahun (1841-1900) was not only the author of historical novels, but also a historian whose work was a long-time reference for nationalists in Turkey, insofar as it presented the history of the Turkic peoples in Central Asia. He was particularly mentioned by two intellectuals in the last years of the Ottoman Empire and the first years of the young Turkish Republic: Yusuf Akçura and Ziya Gökalp. Our communication will deal with the ideas and criticisms of these two nationalists regarding the works of Léon Cahun as enlightening sources of Turkish history.
Kerem Görkem Arslan
The "new ancient" :Neo-pagan religiosities in contemporary Turkey : the example of Hekate worship
Neopagan religious movements aiming a return to ancient beliefs, customs and values with special emphasis on the environment and the cultural heritage are spreading not only to the Western civilizations, but also to Turkey. The manner in which these movements are established is very localized, it allows us to observe a range of neopagan religiosities, some of which claim Anatolian roots.
The cult of Hecate, a good example of these religiosities, was reconstituted on the historical foundations of the ancient cult with the popularization of neopagan movements in Turkey. Ritual practices, symbolism, reconstituted worship traditions are significant in rethinking the “new old”. Considered a neopagan practice by most believers, this cult represents a new unrecognized, even secret, religious minority in the Republic of Turkey.
Dilek Sarmis
Old territories, new “knowledge”. Anatolianist theories of republican Turkey, a scholarly diachrony of origins.
The anadoluculuk, is the theory of the Turkish nation embodied in a territory of origins bringing past and present into dialogue. This a current is partially represented by the review Dergâh (1921-1923), but especially in Anadolu between 1924 and 1925. The anatolianism is a reaction to the osmanlıcılık, the islâmcılık (or ümmetçilik).and the turancılık. It has its roots in the debates of the Türk ocağı in 1917 opposing the Küçük Türkçülük to the Büyük Türkçülük establishing an equivalence between the spatialization of the new nation within the limits of Anatolia - the place of the uprising against the occupying forces - and a set of cultural and linguistic references common to the Turks. Used to accredit a form of cultural essentialism, sometimes confused with Memleketçilik, Anadoluculuk is an organicist nationalism, “rooted” in a territory, an experience, a language and a culture. The place of ancient Greek Anatolia, depending on whether it is integrated or excluded from the device, will be at the origin of the oppositions that cross this current. Its main representatives are Mükrimin Halil [Yinanç], Hilmi Ziya [Ülken], Ziyaeddin Fahri [Fındıkoğlu] and Mustafa Sekip [Tunç]. Nourished by the work of academics, the theory is also diffracted in novels – those of Peyami Safa in particular. With this communication I propose to reflect on the way in which writings of various kinds converge to build a discourse and freeze a "knowledge" on the organic territory of origins, the legitimacy of which will no longer be questioned in the circles of political nationalism.
