The Attitude of the Ittihadists towards Language and Education System in the Context of Turkification of the Ottoman Empire
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/hc.2025.22.2.068Keywords:
The Committee of Union and Progress, homogenization, nation-state, language reform, unified education system, scoutism, translation of the QuranAbstract
The ideology of the Committee of Union and Progress, which held the political power in the Ottoman Empire in 1908-1918, was Turkism. After the coup d'etat of 1913, the party converged with the state apparatus. Endowed with enormous political power, controlling power structures, and campaigning through its branches and clubs throughout the empire the party directed all political steps toward the homogenization of the multinational, multi-religious empire. The Ittihadist discourse of language reforms, change of alphabet, and translation of the Quran had an immense impact on the formation of Turkish national identity. However, this process happened by a destruction-building formula. The language and education laws passed in 1913, and 1915, and the Association Law passed in 1909, banning native languages and unions and associations based on ethnicity, started to push the non-Turkish citizens to the periphery of the society. The attitude of the ruling party towards the language and the educational system in this pre-genocide phase shows the role (or lack thereof) that was assigned to the non-Turks of the empire from 1908 onwards, helping to understand the subsequent processes that took place in the empire as well.
Downloads
References
Adalian R. P. 1997, “The Armenian Genocide.” In Century of Genocide: Eyewitness Accounts and Critical Views, eds. Samuel Totten, William Parsons, Israel Charny, New York, London, Routledge, 1997, 53-93.
Akçam T. 2006, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility, New York: Metropolitan Books, 496 p.
Bayır D. 2013, Minorities and Nationalism in Turkish Law, Surrey, Burlington, Ashgate, 302 p.
Berkes N. 1998, The Development of Secularism in Turkey, London, Hurst&Company, 537 p.
Conversi D. 2007, Homogenisation, Nationalism and War: Should We Still Read Ernest Gellner? Nation and Nationalism, Vol. 13, No. 3, 371-394 p.
Emin A. 1914, The Development of Modern Turkey as Measured by its Press, New York, Longmans, Green & Co., Agents, 142 p.
Göçek F. M. 2015, Denial of Violence. Ottoman Past, Turkish Present, and Collective Violence against the Armenians, 1789-2009, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 680 p.
Gök F. 2007, The History and Development of Turkish Education, Education, in “Multicultural” Societies-Turkish and Swedish Perspectives, eds. Marie Carlson, Annika Rabo and Fatma Gök, Vol. 18. Stockholm, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, 249-257 p.
Gökalp Z. 1959, Turkish Nationalism and Western Civilization, New York, Columbia University Press, 336 p.
Hagopian A. D., The Situation in Constantinople, “Armenia,” (New York), March 1912, Vol. V, No. 8.
Hagopian A. D., The Situation in Constantinople, “Armenia” (New York), March 1912, Vol. V, No. 8, p. 235.
Handan N.-A. 2005, The Birth of Modern Turkey: The Ottoman Military and the March to World I, London, I.B. Tauris, 256 p.
Hanioğlu Ş. M. 1995, The Young Turks in Opposition, New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 390 p.
Hanioğlu Ş. M. 2001, Preparation for a Revolution: The Young Turks, 1902-1908, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 538 p.
Heyd U. 1950, Foundations of Turkish Nationalism, London, Luzac and Company and The Harvill Press, 1950, 174 p.
Horton G. 1953, The Blight of Asia: An Account of the Systematic Extermination of Christian Populations by Mohammedans and of the Culpability of Certain Great Powers; With the True Story of the Burning of Smyrna, Indianapolis, Kansas City, New York, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 292 p.
Karagöz S. 2020, An Investgation into the Changes and Developments in Teaching Methods Applied in Ottoman Educational Institutions: Sati Bey’s Suggestions and Practices, International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, Vol. 8, No. 2, 160-161 p.
Kedourie E. 1961, Nationalism, London, Hutchinson University Library, 151 p.
Kieser H.–L. 2018, Talaat Pasha: Father of Modern Turkey, Architect of Genocide, Princeton&Oxford, Princeton University Press, 533 p.
Maksudyan N. 2016, Agents or Pawns? Nationalism and Ottoman Children during the Great War, Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, Vol. 3, No. 1, 139-164 p.
Şapolyo E. B. 1974, Ziya Gökalp: İttihat ve Terakki ve Meşrutiyet Tarihi, İstanbul, İnkılap ve Aka Kitabevleri, 318 p.
Stuermer H. 1917, Two War Years in Constantinople: Sketches of German and Young Turkish Ethics and Politics, London, New York, Toronto, Hodder and Stoughton, 308 p.
Tekin Alp. 1917, The Turkish and Pan-Turkish Ideal, Constantinople, Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, 58 p.
Tongul N. 2010, Türk Harf İnkılâbı, Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü Atatürk Yolu Dergisi, Vol. 33-34, 103-130 p.
Tozoglu A. E. 2022, Educating Masses: The Committee of Union and Progress Clubs and Schools in the Late Ottoman Empire, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 24, No. 4, 614-639 p.
Yalman A. E. 1930, Turkey in the World War, New Haven, Yale University Press, xviii+310 pp.
Авакян А. 2013, Геноцид армян: механизмы принятия и исполнения решений. Ереван: МИГА, 133 стр.
Гордлевскiй В. 1912, Очерки по новой османской литературѣ, труды по востоковѣдѣнiю, вып. XXXIX, Москва, “Крестный календарь,” 146 стр.
Еремеев Д. 1971, Этногенез турок (происхождение и основные этапы этнической истории), Москва, Наука, 272 стр.
Желтяков А. 1972, Печать в общественно-политической и культурной жизни Турции (1729-1908 гг.), Москва, Наука, 318 стр.
Желтяков А., Петросян Ю. 1965, История просвещения в Турции: конец XVIII – начало XX века, Mосква, Наука, 174 стр.
Осипова Е. 1977, Социология Эмиля Дюркгейма (критический анализ теоретико-методологических концепций), Москва, Наука, 266 стр.
Сафрастян Р. 1985, Доктрина османизма в политической жизни Османской империи (50-70 гг. XIX в.), Ереван, издательство АН АрмССР, 147 стр.
Тыркова А. 1916, Старая Турцiя и младотурки. Годъ въ Константинопле (Петроградъ, тип. Б.М. Вольфа, 1916), 180 стр.
Фадеева И. 1985, Официальные доктрины в идеологии и политике Османской империи (османизм-панисламизм), XIX-начало XX в. Москва, Наука, 272 стр.
Գզոյան Է., Գալուստյան, Ռ., Խաչատրյան Շ., Միրզոյան Է. 2022, Հայ երեխաների թուրքացումը Հայոց ցեղասպանության տարիներին, Երևան, ՀՑԹԻ, 2022, 248 էջ:
Զարեւանդ 1926, Միացեալ, անկախ Թուրանիա կամ ի՞նչ կը ծրագրեն թուրքերը, տ., ա. հ., 228 էջ:
Թոփչեան Ե. 1909, Երիտասարդ Թիւրքիան եւ հայերը, մասն առաջին, Թիֆլիս, Շրօմա, 288 էջ:
Սապահ-Գիւլեան Ս. 1908, Երիտասարդ Թիւրքիա. Պարիզ, հրատարակութիւն հնչակեան կուսակցութեան, № 16, 76 էջ:
Սաֆարյան Ալ. 2012, Զիյա Գյոքալփը և «Թյուրքականության հիմունքները», Երևան, ԵՊՀ հրատ., 2012, 300 էջ:
Մամուլ
Թուրք ուսուցիչ չընդունող վարժարանները պիտի փակուին, «Ճակատամարտ», Կ.Պոլիս, 30 օգոստոս, 1923, էջ 2:
Պոլսոյ մէջ թուրքէրեն չգիտցողները, «Ճակատամարտ», 22 սեպտեմբեր, 1923, էջ 2:
Սարգիսեան Ե., Լատինական տառերը ազդակ համաթրքութեան, «Ազատամարտ», Փարիզ, 23 դեկտեմբեր, 1928, էջ 2-3.
Startling Figures, “The Orient”, Constantinople, 17 July, 1912, p. 2.
Why they Fell, “The Orient”, 9 April, 1913, p. 2.
Empire News, “The Orient”, 18 February, 1914, p. 68.
Editorial, “The Orient”, 4 March, 1914, p. 85.
Translating the Koran in Turkish, “The Orient”, 4 March, 1914, p. 86.
The Lack of Moslem Schools, “The Orient”, 22 April, 1914, p. 153.
Turkish Made Easy, “The Orient”, 18 August, 1915, p. 214.
Jeune-Turc about Missionary Schools, “The Orient”, 24 September, 1913, p. 2.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ռեգինա Գալուստյան
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
