Turkish republican elite's Arab perception: examples from the Ulus between 1930-1940

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1606908 (Table of Contents)

This thesis focuses on the perceptions of the Turkish Republican elites towards Arabs between 1930 and 1940. Although relations with the Arab world have attracted the interest of scholars starting with the 1980s, the literature is quite weak regarding the early Republican period. In an attempt to fill this gap, this thesis looks at the Ulus, semi-official newspaper of the ruling Republican People’s Party at the time, to reveal both diplomatic and cultural relations between Turks and Arabs. There are three main findings of the thesis. First, as reflected by the Ulus, Turkey did not neglect the diplomatic relations as it is mostly argued. Second, peaceful relations in the diplomatic arena did not translate into cultural or identity level feelings towards the Arabs. Arabic identity was instrumentalized in order to reinforce the modern, secular and Western Turkish identity that the Republican elites wanted to create. Third, Republican elites made use of domestic affairs, successes and failures, of the Arab countries in advantage of the Kemalist regime of Turkey. Failures of the Arab countries suggested the relative success of the Kemalist regime, which was modern, secular and Western oriented. In case of successes of the Arab countries, Turkey was shown as the role model for these Arab countries. This thesis is important in the sense that it brings more nuanced analysis of the relations at the time and reveals the perceptions of the Republican elites towards Arabs through the stereotypes they used.