Republican Citizenship in Turkey: Historical Development, Perceptions and Practices

Abstract This article, the result of qualitative research conducted in Ankara, aims to depict the republican understanding of citizenship from the behaviour patterns and daily practices of citizens and to show how it diverges from various other forms of citizenship understanding. Republican citizenship – the most dominant and hegemonic understanding of citizenship in Turkey – was constituted in the process of foundation of the Turkish Republic as a nation-state. In Turkey's historical experience, this tradition, which is based on civil responsibilities, could not develop sufficiently in terms of individual rights and democratic values. As reflected in the perceptions and practices of citizens, Turkish society is still not very close to a democratic understanding of citizenship that strongly defends human rights, legitimacy of differences, equality between people as well as embodying responsibilities for the society. Notes This article is an original contribution based on the data of the research project on citizenship in Turkey supported by TÜBİTAK as denoted below in note 10. A paper on the findings of this research was presented in the tenth Social Sciences Congress of the Turkish Social Sciences Association in 2007 in Ankara. The discussions on the presentation in the Congress have inspired the authors to elaborate and refine their work and write this article. The authors are indebted to TÜBİTAK for the funding of the research project and also would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Simten Coşar at Başkent University for her encouragement and invaluable contributions to the first drafts of this article. 1. See R. Aybay, Yurttaşlık Hukuku (Ankara: AÜSBF Yayınları, 1982); R. Aybay, ‘Teba-i Osmaniden TC Yurttaşlığına Geçişin Neresindeyiz?’, in A. Ünsal (ed.), 75. Yılda Tebadan Yurttaşa Doğru (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yayınları, 1998), pp.37–43; E. Nömer, Vatandaşlık Hukuku (Istanbul: Filiz Kitabevi, 1993); B. Tanör, Osmanlı-Türk Anayasal Gelişmeleri (Istanbul: YKY, 1998); E. Özbudun, ‘Milli Mücadele ve Cumhuriyetin Resmi Belgelerinde Yurttaşlık ve Kimlik Sorunu’, in Ünsal (ed.), 75. Yılda Tebadan Yurttaşa Doğru, pp.151–9. 2. See A. Kadıoğlu, ‘Kamusal Alan ile Özel Alanın Yeniden Eklemlenmesi: Demokratik Vatandaşlık’, Diyalog, Vol.1 (1996, pp.119–34); A. Kadıoğlu, Cumhuriyet İdaresi Demokrasi Muhakemesi (Istanbul: Metis Yayınları, 1999); A. Kadıoğlu, ‘Can We Envision Turkish Citizenship as Non-membership’, in E.F. Keyman and A. İçduygu (eds.), Citizenship in a Global World: European Questions and Turkish Experiences (London: Routledge, 2005); F. Üstel, ‘Anayasal Vatandaşlık Hangi Anayasaya Vatandaşlık?’[Constitutional Citizenship According to Which Constitution?], Radikal (daily), 17 Dec. 1996; F. Üstel, ‘Cumhuriyetten Bu Yana Yurttaş Profili’[The Citizen Profile Since the Republic], Yeni Yüzyıl (daily), 24 April 1996; F. Üstel, ‘Devlet-Sivil Toplum-Kamusal Alan ve Yurttaşlık’, Birikim, Vol.93–4 (1997); F. Üstel, Makbul Vatandaş″ın Peşinde: II. Meşrutiyet'ten Bugüne Vatandaşlık Eğitimi (Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2004); F. Üstel, Yurttaşlık ve Demokrasi (Ankara: Dost Kitapevi Yayınları 1999); T. Bora, Türk Sağının Üç Hali: Milliyetçilik, Muhafazakarlık, İslamcılık (Istanbul: Birikim Yayınları, 1998); A. İçduygu, ‘Türkiye'de Vatandaşlık KavramıÜzerine Tartışmaların Arka Planı’, Diyalog, Vol.1 (1996), pp.134–48; A. İçduygu, Y. Çolak and N. Soyarık, ‘What is the Matter with Turkish Citizenship’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.35 (1999), pp.187–208; A. İçduygu and F. Keyman, ‘Globalleşme, Anayasallık ve Türkiye'de Vatandaşlık Tartışması’, Doğu-Batı, Vol.5 (1995), pp.143–55; F. Keyman and A. İçduygu, ‘Türk Modernleşmesi ve Ulusal Kimlik Sorunu: Anayasal Vatandaşlık ve Demokratik Açılım Olasılığı’, in Ünsal (ed.), 75. Yılda Tebaadan Yurttaşa Doğru; F. Baban, ‘Community Citizenship and Identity in Turkey’, in Keyman and Içduygu (eds.), Citizenship in a Global World; N. Sirman, ‘The Familial Citizenship in Turkey’, in Keyman and İçduygu (eds.), Citizenship in a Global World; H.B. Kahraman, ‘The Cultural and Historical Foundation of Turkish Citizenship (Modernity as Westernization)’, in Keyman and İçduygu (eds.), Citizenship in a Global World; A. Ünsal, ‘Yurttaşlık Zor Zanaat’ in Ünsal (ed.), 75. Yılda Tebaadan Yurttaşa Doğru; N. Bilgin, ‘Cumhuriyet Fikri ve Yurttaş Kimliği’, in Ünsal (ed.), 75. Yılda Tebaadan Yurttaşa Doğru. 3. See. A. Aktar, ‘Cumhuriyetin İlk Yıllarında Uygulanan Türkleştirme Politikaları’, Tarih ve Toplum, No.156 (1996, pp.324–38); M. Yeğen, ‘Citizenship and Ethnicity in Turkey’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.40, No.6 (2004), pp.51–66; M. Yeğen, ‘Yurttaşlık ve Türklük’, Toplum ve Bilim, No.92 (2002), pp.200–217; K. Kirişçi, ‘Disaggregating Turkish Citizenship and Immigration Practices’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.36, No.3 (2000, pp.1–22); T.Z. Ekinci, Vatandaşlık Açısından Kürt Sorunu ve Bir Çözüm Önerisi (Istanbul: Küyerel Yayınları, 1997); B. İşyar, ‘The Origins of Turkish Republican Citizenship: The Birth of Race’, Nations and Nationalism, Vol.11, No.3 (2005), pp.343–60; Y. Arat, ‘Türkiye'de Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Vatandaşlık’, in Ünsal (ed.), 75. Yılda Tebaadan Yurttaşa Doğru; İ. İlkkaracan and P. İlkkaracan, ‘Kuldan Yurttaşa: Kadınlar Neresinde’, in Ünsal (ed.), 75. Yılda Tebadan Yurttaşa Doğru. 4. See Kadıoğlu, Cumhuriyet İdaresi Demokrasi Muhakemesi. 5. See Baban, ‘Community Citizenship’; Kadıoğlu, ‘Can We Envision’; N. Soyarık, ‘The Citizen of the State and the State of the Citizen: An Analysis of Citizination Process in Turkey’ (unpublished PhD thesis, Bilkent University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, 2000). 6. See M. Heper, ‘Osmanlı Siyasal Hayatında Merkez-Kenar İlişkisi’, Toplum ve Bilim, No.8–10 (1980, pp.3–35); M. Heper, ‘The Strong State as a Problem for the Consolidation of Democracy: Turkey and Germany Compared’, Comparative Political Studies, Vol.25, No.2 (1992, pp.169–94); Ş, Mardin, ‘Türk Toplumunu İnceleme Aracı Olarak Sivil Toplum’, in M. Türköne and T. Önder (eds.), Türkiye'de Toplum ve Siyaset-makaleler I (Istanbul: İletişim Yayınlar 2003), pp.21–35; Ş. Mardin, ‘Türk Siyasasını Açıklayacak Bir Anahtar: Merkez Çevre İlişkileri’, in Türköne and Önder (eds.), Türkiye'de Toplum ve Siyaset-makaleler I; H. İnalcık, ‘Comments on Sultanism: Max Weber's Typification of the Ottoman Polity’, Near Eastern Studies, No.1 (1995), pp.49–72. 7. See Üstel, ‘Cumhuriyetten Bu Yana’; Üstel, ‘Devlet-Sivil Toplum’; Üstel, Makbul Vatandaş″ın Peşinde; Kadioglu, ‘Can We Envision’. 8. See Baban, ‘Community Citizenship’; Yeğen, ‘Citizenship and Ethnicity’; Yeğen, ‘Yurttaşlık ve Türklük’; and Kirişçi, ‘Disaggregating Turkish Citizenship and Immigration Practices’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.36, No.3 (2000, pp.1–22). 9. See B. Caymaz, Türkiye'de Vatandaşlık: Resmi İdeoloji ve Yansımaları (Istanbul: Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2007); A. Secor, ‘There Is an Istanbul That Belongs To Me: Citizenship, Space, and Identity in the City’, Annals of Association of American Geographers, Vol.94, No.2 (2004), pp.352–68. 10. This article was based on data obtained from the following research project which was financially supported by TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) and directed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Filiz Kardam: ‘Citizenship in Turkey: Virtues, Perceptions and Behavior Patterns’, TÜBİTAK project no. SBB-3034 (Ankara, 2005). 11. See M. Güvenç, ‘Ankara'da Statü/Köken Farklılaşması 1990 Sayım Örneklemleri Üzerinden Blokmodel Çözümlemeleri’, in Y. Yavuz (ed.), Tarih İçinde Ankara (Ankara: ODTÜ Mimarlık Fakültesi, 2001). 12. Three people from 24 different groups, that is, four different age groups within each of the three socio-economic status (SES) groups, including both men and women, were surveyed. SES groups were defined in a broad sense according to occupation and educational level and district of residence of the people and categorized as upper, middle and lower. The age groups were classified as 18–25, 26–45, 46–65 and 66 and above. The quotations from the people interviewed were indicated with the codes given to them such as C15 (citizen number 15). Personal characteristics of each individual were also briefly stated. 13. See R. Dagger, ‘The Sandelian Republic and the Encumbered Self, Review of Politics, Vol.61, No.2 (2002), pp.181–207; R. Dagger, ‘Republican Citizenship’, in B.S. Turner and E.F. Isin (eds.), Handbook of Citizenship Studies (London: Sage Publications, 2002); D. Miller, Citizenship and National Identity (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000); A. Patten, ‘The Republican Critic of Liberalism’, in C. Farelly (ed.), Contemporary Political Theory: A Reader (London: Sage Publications, 2004); K. Haakonssen, ‘Republicanism’, in R.E. Goodin and A.P. Pettit (eds.), Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993); M. Sandel, ‘The Procedural Republic and the Unencumbered Self’, in C. Farelly (ed.), Contemporary Political Theory: A Reader (London: Sage Publication 2004), pp.112–25. 14. See Dagger, ‘The Sandelian Republic’; Miller, Citizenship and National Identity 15. C2: female, age 71, high school education, upper socio-economic status (SES). We will use (SES) in the text hereafter. 16. C35: female, age 73, university education, upper SES. 17. F. Ahmad, Modern Türkiye'nin Oluşumu (Istanbul: Kaynak Yayınları, 2005), p.79. 18. See Kadıoglu, ‘Can We Envision’, p.112. 19. See Üstel, Makbul Vatandaş″ın Peşinde. 20. C68: female, age 70, university education, upper SES. 21. C15: male, age 77, university education, upper SES. 22. See Baban, ‘Community Citizenship’. The decision of the French Parliament abolishing the use of all religious symbols in secondary schools within the context of a headscarf case outstandingly resembles the secularism practices of Turkey. See Radikal (daily), 11 Feb. 2004. 23. See Baban, ‘Community Citizenship’, p.56. 24. See ibid., p.53. 25. C15: male, age 77, university education, upper SES. 26. C15: male, age 77, university education, upper SES. 27. See Ahmad, Modern Türkiye'nin, pp.124–46. 28. See ibid., pp.147–76. 29. C17: male, age 42, university education, upper SES. 30. C17, male, age 43, university education, upper SES. 31. C32, male, age 37, left high school, middle SES. 32. C31: female, age 44, high school graduate, upper SES. 33. See Mardin, ‘Türk Siyasasını’; Heper, ‘The Strong State’. 34. C46: male, age 68, elementary school graduate, upper SES. 35. C47: age 59, can read but not write, lower SES. 36. C44, male, age 19, elementary school education, lower SES. 37. C46, male, age 68, elementary school education, upper SES. 38. The Kurdish organization which leads armed conflict in the eastern and south-eastern parts of Turkey against the Turkish Armed Forces. 39. C60: male, age 59, elementary school education, lower SES. 40. See Ünsal, ‘Yurtaşlık Zor Zanaat’, p.19. 41. C7: male, age 27, high school graduate, lower SES. 42. C53: male, age 26, university education, upper SES. 43. C53: male, age 26, university graduate, upper SES. 44. C39: male, age 23, university student, upper SES. 45. C47: male, age 59, can read but not write, lower SES. 46. C10: female, age 47, elementary school graduate, lower SES. 47. C43: male, age 44, elementary school graduate, lower SES.

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