Domestic Policy

Domestic Policy

Why did the reforms which began in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th
century fail to meet with the success achieved by those in Japan?

The Empire was not homogenous: The nationalist movements that began in the 19th century could not have been prevented.

The nations of the West constantly fomented troubles among the Ottoman minorities, with which they felt an affinity.

Russia wished to establish its presence on the Mediterranean by
protecting those of the Orthodox Faith, who constituted the largest
non-Muslim minority in the Ottoman Empire. Great Britain saw this
Russian policy as a threat to its own interests, and "protected" the
Ottomans until the end of the 19th century. This was, however,
exploitative protection. When the German Union was established in 1871,
this new imperialist force effected a rapprochement with the Ottomans.

Having been on the defensive in an endless series of wars since the
early 18th century, the Ottomans found themselves with an economy in
collapse. The capitulations had been used entirely as a means of
explorations.

Most important of all, the Turks had watched passively as science and
technology developed in Europe, and had failed to reform their
educational system.

The reforms of the 19th century had created a polarity in the culture,
for the old scholastic system of education continued to exist side by
side with the new schools, and there was a chasm between those who
emerged from the one and those who emerged from the other.

Despite legal reforms, the state continued to be a theocratic one, thus
limiting the effectiveness of what Westernizing reforms were made.

In founding the Turkish Republic, the great leader Atatürk was well
aware of all this. In addition, he took inspiration from the Age of
Enlightenment and the French Revolution, with the democratization that
it brought.

All of the principles of Turkish reform were established by Atatürk.
This powerful leader put his principles into action whenever the
opportunity presented itself, and philosophized about them afterwards.
At the same time he strove to make them permanent. In a succinct manner
he described the aim of all the reforms: To achieve the level of
contemporary civilization, which of course meant Western civilization.
But Atatürk was a pragmatist, and knew that civilization was to be
taken from any and all sources, so long as it could be adapted to
Turkish society.

At the heart of Atatürk's reforms were rationalism, the use of intelligence, and the love of humankind.

The Political Side
At the very outset of the War of Independence, a new state was founded
that replaced an age-old Turkish tradition, the sovereignty of one
individual, with the sovereignty of the nation (April 23,1920), and
this for the first time in Asia.

With victory won, the sultanate was abolished forever (November 4,
1922) and a Republic proclaimed (October 29, 1923), so that there was
no longer any need for the Caliphate, which was at odds with the
fundamental philosophy of the new state, and was abolished by the
National Assembly on March 3, 1924. A new organization responsible to
the Prime ministry was established to deal exclusively with matters of
Muslim worship. Thus the theocratic nature of the government was
reduced almost to nil, and a secular state launched.

In 1924 a modern new Constitution was adopted , with the aim of creating the conditions necessary for democracy.

In 1928 an amended Constitution removed the last vestiges of government
involvement in religion, thus making the Republic thoroughly secular.

In 1934 another amendment to the Constitution gave women the right to
vote for deputies to the National Assembly, and to run for office. In
this matter Turkey was in advance of many European nations.

Further change in 1937 put into the Constitution six of the fundamental principles of Turkish reform:

Republicanism, nationalism, populism, statism, secularism and
reformism. These principles are still part of the Constitution today.

Republicanism
As for Republicanism, with this principle Turkish reforms find concrete
backing in the structural nature of the state. Turkey is a state,
governed by democratic principles and democracy itself is basically
political, intellectual and egalitarian.

Nationalism
The main objective of the Kemalist revolution was to create an
independent national state whose basis was the national resistance
spirit. The last stage reached today in the development of societies is
the nation. Through Nationalism, Atatürk gave his own people a national
identity and the Turkish Nation reached the final victory by
orientation to the national objectives and common interests. The nation
is not a race, but a togetherness of spirits and a moral medium moulded
by history. The spirit of nationality, or simply nationalism, appears
as a deep-rooted psychological affinity to and respect for the national
history and successes and miseries in the past. This spirit does not
solely consist of an appreciation of the past and of the things which
occurred in the past. There is another factor of nationalism: the aims,
hopes and expectations directed to the future.

Populism
The principle of Populism symbolizes the contemporary concept of
democracy, and the rational nationalism that can develop and flourish
only in free and democratic countries. Populism is a cornerstone of the
state and is a form of the consciousness of national sovereignty. The
nation shall be governed by persons elected by the people. Their duty
is to defend the country's independence both at domestic and
international levels. Parallel to the essence of this principle it has
been guaranteed, in the Turkish laws that each Turkish citizen
possesses equal rights regardless of race, sex, creed etc. and the
state treats them equally.

Statism
Statism was admitted into the political life of Turkey in 1936 as one
of the basic characteristics of the Turkish State by a constitutional
amendment. The statism adopted by Turkey, retains individual initiative
as the basic factor while it commits the state particularly in the
field of economics in order to raise the country to a high level of
welfare taking into account the general and high interests of the
nation. According to Atatürk, the moderate statism that he had devised
is the system best suited to the country's requirements. He has made
the following priority listing for the duties and responsibilities of
the state:

- to act in leading Turkey toward industrialization and the contemporary level of civilization;

- to establish and maintain public order in the country and to preserve individual freedoms;

- to provide the means of political freedom and well-being of individuals;

- to maintain good relations with foreign powers in order to safeguard and guarantee the country's future.

Secularism
Secularism, a corollary of democracy, characterizes best Atatürk's
modern society and the young Turkish Republic. This principle provides
for the administration of the state by contemporary laws based on
scientific facts as well as for freedom of thought distinct from the
pressure of any type of dogma.

Reformism
The principle of Reformism is instrumental in following up developments
and advances in the world of science. Through reformism, Turkey can
reach the level of contemporary civilization.

These six basic principles constitute the roots of the Republic of Turkey.

How, then, did democratic movements come about in the framework of
these reforms? Atatürk was passionate about liberty and democracy. "All
rights," he said in 1931, "are based on the individual... In a
democracy neither the state nor any other party may interfere with the
freedoms of the individual." "Democracy means love of the country."

Following the foundation of the Republic, Atatürk wished to institute
democracy in all its principles and manifestations, and said, "We Turks
are at heart democratic."

Despite the evident respect and even longing for democracy inherent in
these words, until 1945 Turkey did not have a multi-party system, even
though there was nothing in the Constitution or in law to prevent the
founding of political parties. The leader of the nation also was eager
on this point. One may cite two instances of an approach to a
multi-party system prior to 1945. One was in 1924, when a number of
Atatürk's comrades in arms opposed him for personal and ideological
reasons, and founded a new party. This was tolerated even though the
regime had as yet scarcely been established.

The Depression of 1930 affected Turkey as well as other countries, and
Atatürk was of the opinion that the government should be controlled,
new ideas presented. For this, a multi-party system was needed. At that
time the renowned statesman Fethi (Okyar) Bey, a close friend of
Atatürk's, was the Ambassador to France. He declared his intention,
probably with the encouragement of Atatürk, to found a new party.
Atatürk's response was positive. As long as it did not violate the
principle of secularism, new parties would be welcome. Thus in 1930
Fethi Bey established the Republic's third political party.
Unfortunately a certain number of conservatives who were disturbed by
Atatürk's reforms used this party for their own purposes. The party
lost its democratic basis, and eventually dissolved itself.

Legal Reforms
Canonical law was the essence of the Ottoman legal system, although a
combination of custom and jurisprudence also existed that gave the
sultan a certain freedom of action. In point of fact, Islamic law was
progressive for its age, and with the exception of certain matters was
even modern. But through the ages, while secular law was being
developed in the West, Ottoman law, as in so many other areas, remained
rigidly fixed.

In 1839 the famous Tanzimat reform movement brought legal changes as
well as others, as certain European laws not in direct contradiction
with the Islamic code were adopted. Nevertheless the legal system still
left much to be desired.

The Republican government put an end to the confusion in this sphere.
Above all; there was now a national state, so that the conditions
existed for legal reform.

The essence of this reform was that men and women be completely equal
before the law. There had to be a civil code which would resolve this
and other problems, and after long debate the most recent, advanced
code in Europe was settled on in 1926, the civil code of Switzerland.
According to this,

- Men and women were equal,

- Women were free to choose any profession,

- Marriage was to be with a single spouse,

- Divorce would involve equal conditions for the man and woman,

- Men's and women's shares in heritance were to be equal.

After these changes, others were made in other areas. For example,
under the old system two female witnesses were required, but only one
male witness. Laws concerning commerce and business were revised, as
were articles of the penal code. In all these areas there was reform.

Education
Reforms in education were particularly important if changes in other
areas were to be properly grasped, and to be lasting. The fundamental
reforms enacted by the government of the Republic were as follows:

- All education based on religion was abolished, and all schools placed under state direction.

- Serious steps were taken to make primary school education mandatory.

The biggest single step was the adoption of the Roman alphabet. Arabic
script, completely incompatible with Turkish, had been a major cause of
sterility in philosophy and letters, and in 1928 it was replaced by an
essentially Roman alphabet in the short space of only six months.
Suddenly the reading and writing of Turkish became far easier to learn,
and tens of thousands of adults were taught literacy in the special
schools set up for this purpose. This single reform did much to make
the culture of the West accessible to the Turkish nation.

It was only natural that all of this should have an impact on the life
of science, scholarship and thought. Among the Ottomans there were many
madrashahs, where Islamic thought was the subject of study, and only in
1900 was the first university opened in Istanbul. True universities
were needed if science and letters were to progress, and in 1933
Atatürk refounded the University of Istanbul. This is an important date
for higher education in Turkey, for at this time Turkey opened its arms
to Jewish and other scholars and scientists fleeing, or being run out
of, Hitler's Germany. In Turkey they found safety and civilized
surroundings, and they were the true founders of Turkish universities,
which today number thirty.

The modernizing reforms together make up a whole. Having turned its
face to the West, the nation brought about a great change through
individual steps, each of which may seem like a detail, but taken
together amount to a great achievement. Those we may cite are the
following:

- Clothing was secularized. Henceforward divines were to dress like any
other citizen, except when leading worship. An exception was the
highest placed divine in each religion.

- The fez, which in point of fact has no place either among the Turks
or in Islam, had in a short time become a symbol of religion. Now it
was abolished.

- The internationally accepted calendar was adopted, as were European
units of time, weight and length. Numerals also took their western
forms.

In all these reforms, the goal was to create a modern, advanced society.