From the Late Ottoman Empire to the Single-Party Era. The Changing Traits of Premature Turkish Populism

Abstract

Populism, one of the six fundamental pillars of Kemalist ideology, officially entered the Turkish constitution in 1937. However, its origins date back to the II. Meşrutiyet Dönemi (Second Constitutional Era) of the Ottoman Empire. Yusuf Akçura, Ahmet Ağaoğlu, and Hüseyinzade Ali, the intellectuals of the II. Meşrutiyet Dönemi, formulated Turkish populism under the influence of Russian Narodniki, although this concept was interpreted differently during and after the single-party era. Many studies assume that Turkish populism is a rigid and unchangeable concept. However, despite this assumption, it has continually renewed itself and reflected the economic and social conditions of the period. Thus, this study aims to demonstrate how the understanding and practice of populism have changed from the late Ottoman Empire period to the single-party era.