Turkish Radicalism and its Images of the Ottoman Ancien Régime (1923–38)

This article develops a comparative study of Turkish radicalism (i.e. Kemalism and Unionism) demonstrating its resemblances and differences vis-à-vis its European counterparts, especially French republicanism and Bolshevism. The historiographical vistas of Turkish radicalism are thoroughly examined to elaborate on the ancien régime imageries of Turkish radicalism and the contradictions inherent in these coexisting historiographical vistas. The article aims to develop a critical perspective of Turkish radicalism, arguing that many clichés reproduced in the academic literature had been in fact produced by the Kemalists as self-fashioning.