The Making of Modern Turkey: State, Islam, and Geopolitics

Instructors:  Dr. Yakoob Ahmed & Dr Behar Sadriu

Date/times:

July 4 - August 22, Saturdays 10 AM - 12 PM US Eastern Standard Time

Note:

Final course registration is subject to a short application process, the instructor and/or AlQasas administration may refuse registration to any individual at their discretion.

Course summary:

This course will examine the rise of the modern Turkish republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. It will help students understand the major political, intellectual, and geopolitical transformation of Turkey from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to the contemporary Erdoğan era. Beginning with the Balkan Wars, World War I, and the dissolution of the Ottoman Islamic state, the course uncovers the foundations of the secular Turkish Republic, the role of the military and coups, the development of Muslim political activism, and the impact of the Cold War on Turkish foreign policy. It further analyses the end of the Cold War, the Yugoslav Wars, the rise of the AK Party, and the emergence of a post-Ottoman foreign policy vision during the Arab Spring and Syrian conflict. Throughout, the course considers the evolving relationship between Turkish nationalism, Islam, and conceptions of the ummah in modern Turkish political thought. 

Learning outcomes:

• Demonstrate empirical knowledge of modern Turkish political history, including key events, actors, and turning points from the late Ottoman period to the present.
• Identify and explain the major political, ideological, and geopolitical trends shaping Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy, including secularism, political Islam, militarism, nationalism, and Turkey’s evolving relationship with the Muslim world (ummah).
• Analyse the role of major institutions and actors in Turkish politics, including the military, political parties, state elites, and religious movements.
• Contextualise and critically assess contemporary developments in Turkey, including its changing position within regional and global politics and its engagement with the broader Muslim world, using historical and conceptual frameworks covered in the course.
• Evaluate competing interpretations of Turkey’s political trajectory, including debates around post-Ottoman identity, foreign policy orientation, and the role of Islam in public life.
• Develop the ability to anticipate possible future trajectories of Turkish politics and foreign policy based on historical patterns and current dynamics.

Course schedule: