- Okan Üniversitesi
İİBF Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü
Tuzla Kampüsü, 34959 Tuzla / İSTANBUL - 0090 (216) 677 #1162
Umut Azak
Okan University, International Relations, Faculty Member
- Religion and Politics, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Modern Turkey, Turkish Nationalism, Secularization, Turkish History, and 34 moreIslamism, Religion and Modernity, Turkısh Politics, Middle East Studies, Neoliberalism, Modern Greece, History of Modern Turkey, Turkey, Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman History, Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Studies, Turkish politics, Minorities in Turkey, Political History of Turkey, Armenian Studies, Late Ottoman Period, Non-Muslim Minorities in Turkey, Church and State, Balkan History, Nationalism And State Building, Turkey And Europe, Ottoman Balkans, Ottoman Turkish historical writing, Turkish Studies, Middle East History, Türk Sineması, Islamcılık, Laiklik, Secularisms and Secularities, Politics of Secularism, Religion in Turkey, and Technologyedit
- Umut Azakedit
This article attempts to analyze the transnational dimension of a forgotten period of women’s activism in the 1950s. In the historiography of the Turkish women’s movement, these years have been depicted as an era of state feminism, which... more
This article attempts to analyze the transnational dimension of a forgotten period of women’s activism in the 1950s. In the historiography of the Turkish women’s movement, these years have been depicted as an era of state feminism, which replaced the first-wave feminist movement represented by the Union of Turkish Women in the mid-1930s and would later be challenged by the second-wave feminism that emerged as a radical and independent movement in the 1980s. It was during the 1950s, however, that a transnational women’s network was revived since the convening of the Twelfth Congress of the International Alliance of Women in Istanbul in 1935. This article unearths the story of the establishment of the Turkish branch of the International Council of Women in the late 1950s and contextualizes this transnational encounter of activist women in a local and international setting, which was both heavily imbued with nationalist and Eurocentric concepts.
Research Interests:
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, published online 1 April 2015. This article focuses on Birleşen Yollar/Crossroads (Yücel Çakmaklı, 1970), which pioneered the Islamic National Cinema Movement in Turkey. The film... more
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, published online 1 April 2015.
This article focuses on Birleşen Yollar/Crossroads (Yücel Çakmaklı, 1970), which pioneered the Islamic National Cinema Movement in Turkey. The film discursively constructed Turkish secularist modernization as cosmetic Westernization and promoted the Islamic way of life as the only means to true happiness—a popular theme of Islamic cinema in the late 1980s and 1990s. Although the film-makers discursively posited it as an ‘alternative’ film, they followed the narrative conventions of melodrama, the most popular genre of the time. Moreover, they worked with famous mainstream stars. In other words, the film-makers chose to communicate the then marginal message of Islamism by reconfiguring and Islamicizing the mainstream rather than rejecting it all together. In this respect, Crossroads was an early example of the Islamist project to Islamicize modernity in Turkey that would gain momentum in the 1990s. The article attempts to reconstruct the film’s historical and continuing significance by locating it within a broader discursive context and by exploring its historical development from its production through to its passage through censorship and public reception. The article also discusses the continuities between the film’s discourse and current debates on secularism and Islamism in Turkey.
This article focuses on Birleşen Yollar/Crossroads (Yücel Çakmaklı, 1970), which pioneered the Islamic National Cinema Movement in Turkey. The film discursively constructed Turkish secularist modernization as cosmetic Westernization and promoted the Islamic way of life as the only means to true happiness—a popular theme of Islamic cinema in the late 1980s and 1990s. Although the film-makers discursively posited it as an ‘alternative’ film, they followed the narrative conventions of melodrama, the most popular genre of the time. Moreover, they worked with famous mainstream stars. In other words, the film-makers chose to communicate the then marginal message of Islamism by reconfiguring and Islamicizing the mainstream rather than rejecting it all together. In this respect, Crossroads was an early example of the Islamist project to Islamicize modernity in Turkey that would gain momentum in the 1990s. The article attempts to reconstruct the film’s historical and continuing significance by locating it within a broader discursive context and by exploring its historical development from its production through to its passage through censorship and public reception. The article also discusses the continuities between the film’s discourse and current debates on secularism and Islamism in Turkey.
Ayrıntı Dergisi, Mart-Nisan 2015
Toplum ve Bilim, Aralık 2014, Sayı: 131. Özet: Milliyetçi-muhafazakâr düşüncede Ayasofya simgesini inceleyen bu çalışmada, Ayasofya Müzesi’nin cami olarak açılması için 1950’li yıllardan bu yana sürdürülen girişim ve kampanyalara... more
Toplum ve Bilim, Aralık 2014, Sayı: 131.
Özet: Milliyetçi-muhafazakâr düşüncede Ayasofya simgesini inceleyen bu çalışmada, Ayasofya Müzesi’nin cami olarak açılması için 1950’li yıllardan bu yana sürdürülen girişim ve kampanyalara odaklanılıyor. “Ayasofya davası”nın tarihine, yazılı basına yansıyan örnekler ile ayna tutulurken, “Ayasofya Camii” simgesinin “düşman Batı” imgesi ile gayrimüslimlere yönelik ayrımcılık ve nefret söyleminin yeniden üretimini sağlayan bir araca dönüştürüldüğü ortaya konuyor.
This paper on the symbolism of Santa Sophia in the nationalist-conservative discourse focuses on the initiatives and campaigns for converting the Santa Sophia Museum into a mosque since the 1950s. The paper, analyzing the history of these campaigns as much as they have been reflected in the printed press, claims that the symbol of Ayasofya has been instrumentalized for reproducing a discriminatory hate discourse about non-Muslims on the basis of the image of West, the enemy.
Özet: Milliyetçi-muhafazakâr düşüncede Ayasofya simgesini inceleyen bu çalışmada, Ayasofya Müzesi’nin cami olarak açılması için 1950’li yıllardan bu yana sürdürülen girişim ve kampanyalara odaklanılıyor. “Ayasofya davası”nın tarihine, yazılı basına yansıyan örnekler ile ayna tutulurken, “Ayasofya Camii” simgesinin “düşman Batı” imgesi ile gayrimüslimlere yönelik ayrımcılık ve nefret söyleminin yeniden üretimini sağlayan bir araca dönüştürüldüğü ortaya konuyor.
This paper on the symbolism of Santa Sophia in the nationalist-conservative discourse focuses on the initiatives and campaigns for converting the Santa Sophia Museum into a mosque since the 1950s. The paper, analyzing the history of these campaigns as much as they have been reflected in the printed press, claims that the symbol of Ayasofya has been instrumentalized for reproducing a discriminatory hate discourse about non-Muslims on the basis of the image of West, the enemy.
Research Interests: Jewish Studies, Balkan Studies, Turkish Nationalism, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Turkish History, and 14 moreTurkey, Modern Greek History, Ottoman Balkans, Turkish Foreign Policy, Late Ottoman Period, Modern Turkey, History of Turkish Republic, Sephardic Studies, Non-Muslim Minorities in Turkey, Minorities in Turkey, History of Modern Turkey, Armenian Genocide, Turkish politics, and Late Ottoman History
Cet article analyse une réforme du régime kémaliste qui, dans les années 1933-1950, a imposé la récitation de l'appel à la prière en turc et a interdit la version arabe originelle. Cette réforme reflétait la... more
Cet article analyse une réforme du régime kémaliste qui, dans les années 1933-1950, a imposé la récitation de l'appel à la prière en turc et a interdit la version arabe originelle. Cette réforme reflétait la pression nationaliste visant à créer un islam national non affecté par la langue ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
According to a recent report of the European MonitoringCentre on Racism and Xenophobia on Muslims in Europe, policiesand public discourse on Islam and experiences of discrimination andsocial and economic marginalization in the last five... more
According to a recent report of the European MonitoringCentre on Racism and Xenophobia on Muslims in Europe, policiesand public discourse on Islam and experiences of discrimination andsocial and economic marginalization in the last five years havenegatively impacted on Muslim immigrants’ sense of belonging to thehost countries (Choudhury et al. 29). This is also true for the Turkish1immigrants in the Netherlands among whom only a small percentage(12 %) regard themselves as being part of Dutch society (FORUMFactbook on the Position of Muslims in the Netherlands 16).
