The focus this season in the Making of Modern Turkey seminars is on the various "isms" that left their mark on the first half of the 20th century and on their positive or negative impact on Republican Turkey. At the seminar scheduled for Saturday, January 21, from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m., Prof. Günay Göksu Özdogan will be joining us to discuss "nationalism". The seminar will be held at the Museum, free of charge.

"Contrary to what ideologists have claimed, Turkish Nationalism was not an innovative ideology and should be considered in relation to other nationalist ideologies," says Özdogan.  "In addition, instead of referring to a single Turkish nationalism it would be more accurate to speak of various Turkish nationalisms. The concept of ‘Turkish identity' redefined within the framework of republican principles in a liberated political setting was obviously quite different from the trend of Turkism preceding it in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. The elements forming a Turkish national identity, and its historical basis and boundaries are still a topic of debate today, attesting to the difficulties Turkish nationalism faces in the process of nation-state building. As egalitarian policies were left behind, the contradiction in attempting to unite as citizens of one land different ethnic and religious groups, while simultaneously stressing a historical-cultural Turkish ethnic identity, has also increased. Instead of strengthening civic patriotic ties, the emphasis has been on the security of the "state" and as a result the efforts at national unity have failed. Theorizing and political discussion on a global scale now challenge the classical nation-state model and make it necessary to approach Turkish nationalism from a new perspective."

Prof. Günay Göksu Özdogan was born in 1950, in Istanbul. After graduating from the Arnavutköy American College for Girls she earned  a BA from the Department of  Management at Bogaziçi University. She then obtained her MA in Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics, and her Ph.D. in Political Science from Bogaziçi University in 1990.  In 1996, she was made associate professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at  Marmara University. In 2002, her book on Turkism during the single-party era, Turan'dan Bozkurt'a: Tek Parti Döneminde Türkçülük, 1931-1946 (İletisim Yayınları, 2001), won the Afet İnan Tarih Arastırmaları prize awarded by the History Foundation (Türk Tarih Kurumu) for historical research. Prof. Özdogan, is currently a member of the faculty in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Marmara University.

Voyvoda Street Lectures Making of Modern Turkey Seminars Republican Turkey and "Nationalism" Prof. Günay Göksu Özdogan Saturday, January 21, 2006 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Free admission The Ottoman Bank Museum Bankalar (Voyvoda) Caddesi 35/37 (0212) 334 22 70