Analyzing the composition of turkish identity

Duncan Randall

“There already has been an Atatürk Airport in Istanbul, and there are in many other places. It would be far more appropriate to give this one a new name,” Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said in justifying his decision not to transfer Atatürk’s name to Istanbul’s new replacement airport.[1] Responding to this announcement, Turkish dailies spewed hearsay as to what name Erdoğan would choose. Some claimed it would be named after Fatih Sultan Mehmet, the 15thcentury Ottoman sultan whose Muslim armies conquered Istanbul and gained a foothold in Europe.[2] Others proposed the name would be that of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the late 19thcentury sultan whose pan-Islamism is a major inspiration for Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP).[3] More believed the president would in fact name the airport after himself. Officials such as former transport minister Ahmet Arslan proclaimed, “Why shouldn’t the airport be named after President Erdoğan, looking at what he has done [throughout his career]?”[4] In the end, Erdoğan settled on “Istanbul Airport.” Yet even in doing this, he was not able to avoid controversy: opening Istanbul Airport on 29 October 2019, Erdoğan was Turkey’s first leader to celebrate the nation’s anniversary outside of the capital of Ankara.

This episode highlights the president’s perspective on how Turkish identity should be presented. Citing the stripping of Atatürk’s name from the airport, the rumored replacement of that name with the names of sultans, and the decision to celebrate republican founding day in the former Ottoman capital of Istanbul, observers claim that Erdoğan is attempting to replace the centrality of Atatürk and Kemalist symbolism with religious and Ottoman motifs.[5] Yet despite the large amount of power Erdoğan has amassed, there still remain other forces in Turkey which continue to be at odds with his redefinition of what it means to be Turkish. This struggle over national identity is most prominent in the city of Izmir.

Though often overshadowed by Istanbul and eclipsed by the ever-expanding Ankara, the Aegean city of Izmir still maintains significant political, economic, and cultural influence in Turkey. Aware of this influence, Izmir’s leaders have not been shy in crafting the city’s own representations of national identity. By building increasingly large and visible monuments to Atatürk, they have extended the defining Turkish identity in Atatürk’s image. By looking at the location, construction, design, and impact of these major municipal constructions, this article will explore why these choices were made and how they contribute to the contested construction of Turkish identity. Izmir’s identity construction sits in stark contrast to other nationwide initiatives that challenge the republican, Kemalist legacy. This tension is discernible in Turkey’s city squares, its architecture, and its public monuments, reflecting a greater ideological battle. As increasingly divergent factions within Turkey fight over the nation’s ideological-political future, Izmir’s leaders are reinforcing their definition of Turkish identity and projecting it not only within their city but also far beyond its borders.

The Historical Bond Between Atatürk and Izmir

In order to understand why Izmir’s definition of Turkish identity is so tied to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the city’s unique historical relationship with the leader must be acknowledged. Without Atatürk, Turkish Izmir would not exist: he liberated the city from Greek military occupation in 1922. Viscerally, Izmir’s perception of what national identity means is intrinsically tied to its liberator. However, the city’s Atatürk-centric definition of Turkish identity is also the result of a subtler connection. As Turkey’s second city and largest port during the Ottoman era, Izmir was famously cosmopolitan. It was part of a greater Mediterranean trade network that brought regional diversity—Turks, Greeks, Armenians, English, Dutch, French, Venetians, and Jews all helped forge an urban identity for Izmir that was in tune with European ideological and social trends.[6] The city’s distinct character famously earned it the name Gavur Izmir, or “Infidel Izmir,” from the Ottoman government in Istanbul.[7] While Izmir’s cosmopolitan identity mostly vanished along with its minorities during the War of Independence, its Eurocentric cultural, political, and ideological lean remained. This was due in large part to the fact that Atatürk’s European-inspired reform program reflected the city’s Ottoman era attitudes, facilitating their preservation and maintenance into the republican period.[8] Because Atatürk was so instrumental to Izmir’s physical inclusion in the Turkish nation and its ideological character, it is no surprise that the city identifies so strongly with Kemalist ideology.

This paper does not intent to deemphasize the significant presence of Kemalist ideology and imagery in other Turkish regions and cities. It does, however, build its argument from the observation that in Izmir, this visual representation is unparalleled in its creativity, grandiosity, and visibility.

Gazi Monument: A Foundational Focal Point

Many of Izmir’s monuments represent Atatürk as a wartime leader; his reconquest of Izmir was the deciding moment in the Turkish War of Independence.[9] The Gazi Monument, erected in 1932, was the first of these. The statue is composed of two parts: a marble base designed by the Turkish sculptor Asım Kömürcü, and above it a bronze figure of an equestrian Atatürk designed by Pietro Canonica, an Italian who had built statues for great leaders and cities all over Europe.[10] The monument emphasizes Atatürk’s intimate connection with Izmir: the title of Gazi, an honorific title awarded for great military feats, along with the depiction of Atatürk in full soldierly regalia and on horseback, are references to his liberation of the city. The inscription on the base is even more direct, with a quote from Atatürk himself during his assault on Izmir: “Armies, your first target is the Mediterranean Sea. Forward!”[11] Meanwhile, the conversation between the European-styled statue and its base, which was constructed with dark-red Ayfron marble from the heartlands of Midwestern Anatolia, offers a more nuanced attachment to Atatürk. Through this fusion of European and Anatolian artistic influences, the statue and its base comprise a visual representation of Turkish identity that is fundamentally a combination of “traditional” Turkish culture and Western modernity, a core of the Kemalist program.

To increase the statue’s reach, Izmir’s leadership worked to make it the focal point of the entire city. Working with the French Beaux Arts city planner René Danger, who was commissioned to help redesign the city in light of the 1922 Izmir Fire, a plan was devised to have the statue sit at the intersection of a newly constructed 6-street axis and the Aegean Sea itself.[12] At this intersection, a monumental plaza was created to be “the symbolic entrance to the city by sea.”[13] As the Turkey’s second largest city at the time, the municipality took its first big step in defining what a republican Turkish city should look like— a definition that was centered on Atatürk.

Battle of Dulmupınar Silhouettes: The Gift of Liberation

Recently, other dedications to Ataturk’s military career have been constructed. The first of these is a massive silhouette commissioned by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Aziz Kocacoğlu, a member of the opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP). It covers an entire side of Izmir’s eight story Metropolitan Municipality building, which sits right on the Aegean coast facing the Bay of Izmir. The second, part of a plant-based mural located on a major highway connecting the Bayraklı and Karşiyaka districts, also depicts an enormous silhouette of Atatürk. The depictions are similar in style and in impact—both share an infamous image of Atatürk which has great emotional meaning for the entire nation and especially for Izmir.

The image, stylistically similar to the American silhouette of soldiers raising the flag at Iwo Jima, depicts Atatürk strategizing at the Battle of Dulmupınar (the “Field Battle of Commander-in-Chief” in Turkish). For context, the Battle of Dulmupınar, fought against the Greeks, was the last major battle in the Turkish War of Independence, and ultimately led to the founding of the Turkish Republic as it is known today.[14] Though the battle holds major significance for all Turks, its celebration as the August 30th“Victory Day” holiday is especially meaningful to Izmirians. Greek aspirations in Turkey were centered around the Megali Idea, or the goal of unifying Western Anatolia with mainland Greece in a greater, Byzantine-inspired, Hellenic nation. The most significant part of this plan was taking Izmir, which had long been a center of Greek culture, commerce, and intellectual thought.[15] However, with Greek defeat at Dulmupınar, Turkish forces were able to push into Izmir with little resistance and finally liberate it after 3 years of occupation. Given this historical context, these images, just like other military-themed monuments in the city, present Izmir and Atatürk as one; for without Atatürk, there would be no Izmir. More broadly, they emphasize that the Turkish nation as it stands today would not exist without him, and therefore that republican Turkish identity is inextricably linked to Atatürk and Izmir.

There was a telling controversy when Kocacoğlu, the mayor who made the decision to create the silhouette on the Municipality building, removed it before independence celebrations in 2016 and hesitated to put it back. The city erupted in anger, with even AKP officials like Deputy Chairman Bilal Doğan saying that by removing the silhouette, “in the most prestigious place of Izmir, where hundreds of thousands of people pass every day…[he] made a great disrespect to the people of Izmir.”[16] Kocacoğlu wasted no time in returning it to the side of his building, where it remains today. This incident shows that while Erdoğan, AKP’s leader, distances Turkish identity from Atatürk, Izmir’s AKP officials act to the contrary, vehemently objecting when dedications to Atatürk are obstructed with in any way. This indicates initiative on the part of Izmir’s leaders from various political ideologies to protect Atatürk’s ideals and legacy as the face of the nation.

Tree of the Republic Statue: The Kemalist Core of the Republic

While all three of the aforementioned dedications stress that Atatürk’s military legacy is critical to modern Turkish identity, other equally prominent monuments focus on how his political and social legacy is crucial to the nation’s understanding of itself. The first of these is the Tree of the Republic Statue in Gündoğdu Square, constructed for the 80th anniversary of the republic. Located on the Kordon promenade right on the Aegean, it consists of a white marble trunk and an iron top in the form of leaves. The trunk is made up of three parts. At the absolute base are Atatürk founding the republic, passing a new civil code (modelled after Switzerland’s) that granted women’s suffrage, and teaching the new Latin alphabet.[17] On the second level, people are doing medicine and science, playing volleyball and soccer, producing elegant orchestral music, and laboring in industrial factories. On the third is text from the Turkish constitution, which was heavily inspired by France’s.[18] These three entities, being part of the trunk, represent a foundational core of the republic fully that is based on the transformative reforms of Atatürk, without which an independent, prosperous, and modern Turkey could not survive. On top of the trunk are the leaves, made up of a cavalry driving forward, continuing to fight and protect the republic. The cavalry are the offshoots of Atatürk, his people, and his ideals, coming into the 21th century with as much vigor and conviction as in 1923. Constructed 80 years after that date, Izmir uses the monument to show that its dedication to the Republic, and the Kemalist values it was founded on, is as unwavering as ever. Constantly surrounded by people, whether young Izmirians relaxing on a Saturday afternoon or adults gathering for a political rally (as millions did for CHP presidential candidate Muharrem İnce days before the 2018 elections), the statue and its preeminence in the cityscape reinforce that only through the maintenance of Atatürk’s legacy will the tree, and by extension the republic, remain alive and healthy.[19]

Atatürk Mask: The Face of the Nation

Though the Tree of the Republic is certainly one of Izmir’s most prominent monuments, its focus on Atatürk is small compared to others, with only the lower third of the trunk dedicated to the leader. The Atatürk Mask in Buca, Izmir faces no such problem. The tenth highest relief sculpture in the world, sitting at 42 meters (taller than Christ the Redeemer), the Atatürk Mask is a colossal mountainside relief of Atatürk’s head. Constructed alongside the relief was the National Struggle and 9thof September Museum, which officials say will give Izmir’s children “better opportunities to learn…what Atatürk has done.”[20] Interestingly, this monument was approved by Buca District Mayor Cemil Şeboy, a member of the AKP. He was even prosecuted due to the amount of public funds he used for the project, which begs the question, why is an AKP mayor sacrificing his political career in order to build such a monument?[21] Just as in the case of the silhouette on the Municipal Mayor’s building, it is clear that fierce bipartisan support remains for the continued construction of dedications to Atatürk, each seeming to outdo the previous. Quite literally, given that the monument is a massive bust of Atatürk, Izmir’s leaders are stressing that Atatürk will always be the true face of the nation. As in the previous scenario, the takeaway is that regardless of divergent trends in Istanbul or Ankara which seek to draw attention away from Atatürk’s legacy and towards Ottoman legacies, Izmir’s leaders will continue to display their own, Atatürk-centric national identity. In the words of Municpal Mayor Kocacoğlu at the opening of the Ataürk Mask, “The achievements of Atatürk and his fellow fighters should always shed light on our way…We must entrust the country to the generations that will adopt [his] principles and reforms.”[22]

Monument of Atatürk, His Mother, and Women’s Rights: Following in His Footsteps

In line with that vision espoused by Kocacoğlu, the Monument of Atatürk, His Mother, and Women’s Rights suggests that Atatürk’s legacy of reform is inseparable from Turkish identity. Designed by Tamer Başoğlu in 1973 to commemorate the 50thanniversary of the Turkish Republic, it reaches 27 meters in height and consists of a number of white pylons that are held together by an iron ring. On this ring are murals of Atatürk, his mother Zübeyde Hanım (who, despite being born abroad, died and is buried in Izmir and whose legacy is claimed by the city), and Turkish women working in fields such as teaching, justice, and chemistry.[23] A symbol of Atatürk’s dedication to the emancipation of women, whom he granted universal suffrage before many European nations did, Izmir uses the monument to argue that Atatürk’s advocacy for women’s rights is an inalienable embodiment of Turkish identity. While politicians in Ankara and Istanbul increasingly advocate for women to stay at home, and Erdoğan remarks that men and women are “not made equal,” Izmir actively renounces this patriarchal conception of Turkish values.[24] In 2018, the city doubled down, making the Monument of Atatürk, His Mother, and Women’s Rights even more prominent by refurbishing the structure and adding 14.7 meters to its height.[25] Vindicating Izmir’s intentions, the monument’s renewal project received two grand awards (Best Multi-Purpose Area of Use in Europe, Best Community Service) from the International Property Awards in London.[26] By acknowledging Izmir among notable European cities, the awards legitimized the value of the city’s initiatives and affirmed to both domestic and international observers that women’s rights are at the core of what it means to be Turkish.

Not only adding height, the refurbishment also involved the installation of a small museum inside its base. Dedicated to pioneering Turkish women in politics, entertainment, the military, and even Sumerology, it was recognized by its commissioner, Karşiyaka District Mayor Huseyin Mutlu Akpinar, as “one of the most meaningful works I have done.”[27] Four years prior, Izmir established the Izmir Women’s Museum, becoming the first city in Turkey dedicated to women. While this museum is not yet a top destination, the new museum at the base of the Monument of Atatürk, His Mother, and Women’s Rights is a popular gathering place in Karşiyaka, the trendiest residential district in Izmir.[28] In the words of Akpinar at the museum’s opening, it would be a grand presentation “to both the people of Izmir and those coming from outside” of the “struggle with the [conservative] mentality that tried to destroy Atatürk”.[29] CHP Parliamentarian Sibel Özdemir added that its spirit should be “kept alive in Anatolian cities [to] remind us again that we must protect our basic values and fight for them.”[30] The monument’s refurbishment wasn’t simply a municipal beautification project, but a strong ideological statement that Kemalist rights, freedoms, and attitudes constitute the true Turkish identity, a statement which is increasingly becoming polarizing in light of current tensions sweeping the nation.  

Speaking to this division, months after the monument’s refurbishment, 7,000 Izmirians gathered around the monument for Iftar, the breaking of the fast during Ramadan. At this dinner, Akpinar made a toast: “Iftar is the most important bridge…which directs us towards humanitarian values again in an age when people are going further away from each other.”[31] He went on to say that the district, whose municipal emblem itself is a stylized depiction of Izmir’s most prominent monument, is a “symbol of all the values we need…[and] indicator of this attitude of ours.”[32] Thus, the monument is a physical embodiment of how Izmir conceives of Turkish identity - indivisibly bound both to Atatürk, and his fight for women’s rights.

A Success in Identity Building?

Though the city’s leaders have certainly engaged in identity construction on a grand scale, it is important to consider how impactful this has been on the residents of Izmir. One way the effectiveness of these structures can be assessed is through their visibility; the more times a monument is seen and the greater role it plays in daily civic life, the greater success it will have in making a statement. Alsancak, Kordon, and Konak, where the Atatürk Monument, the Tree of the Republic, and the silhouette on the Metropolitan Municipal Mayor’s Building are respectively located, are the three most popular meeting places in the city.[33] Meanwhile, the floral silhouette on the highway, the Atatürk Mask, and the Monument to Atatürk, his Mother, and Women’s rights are passed by hundreds of thousands of highway commuters daily. Additionally, almost all of these monuments are prominently located on the city’s Aegean coastline. Therefore, they are not only visible to those on land but to the tens of thousands who ferry across the Bay of Izmir each day for work, school, and pleasure. The monuments themselves are inescapable to anyone living in or visiting the city, and thus so too are the representations of identity they espouse.

Still, it is worth pondering just how relevant these ever-present, imposed images are to the Izmirians who pass them. While no doubt important to the city officials who brought them to life, for everyday citizens, they might be less meaningful. Though there are an abundance of civic gatherings, like the Iftar dinner, and political gatherings, such as the infamous İnce rally, that take place alongside these monuments, critics might argue that these are orchestrated by the authorities who created the monuments. But if this seems too formal to be indicative of a real impact, there also exists substantial evidence pointing to a consistent engagement with the structures in a more organic, casual manner. By looking up a geotag or hashtag of a district’s name, one can see thousands of photos of Izmirians of all ages and affiliations socializing, posing, playing sports, and even celebrating next to these monuments. Given that they are embedded into the fabric of the city and play a central role in the lives of all Izmirians, it is hard to imagine the monuments are irrelevant to their conceptions of national identity. Though citizens may not be actively contemplating their subtle messages on a daily basis, these structures are nevertheless informing their understanding of Turkish identity.

Furthermore, if the monuments did not truly contribute to the promotion of a Kemalist Turkish identity, it would be difficult to explain why they keep being constructed. The structures analyzed here were erected in 1932, 1973, 2003, 2009, 2015, and 2018, highlighting a consistent impetus by Izmir’s leaders to strengthen Turkey’s public face in the image of Atatürk. However, many critics of Atatürk’s monumentalization such as Esra Özyürek have noted that the construction of new and creative Atatürk monuments was commonplace in the 1980’s and 1990’s all over Turkey.[34] This construction was not locally driven, but the result of a federal mandate by the military government in response to increased Islamism and Kurdish terrorism. While this increased the visibility of Atatürk monuments in Izmore, those studied in this article were all constructed either well before or well after the military regimes of the late 20th century. They are also much larger and much more visible (and thus costlier) than Atatürk monuments in other cities. Furthermore, considering that the president’s views on Turkish identity are divergent from Izmir’s, it is clear that the city’s monuments are the result of their own municipal volition rather than national decree.

A Battle for the Future of Turkey

Just because Izmir’s local leaders have erected numerous monuments that fortify Turkish identity in the image of Atatürk does not mean that this image is secure. Recent events occurring just over two hundred miles away from the coastal city highlight the fragility of these constructions of identity. In Taksim Square, a “symbol of the modern republic,” Erdoğan has diluted the structural legacy of Atatürk by “develop[ing] the square in a way that proclaims the city’s Islamic faith and glorifies its Ottoman past.”[35] For generations, the square had been defined by the Republic Monument, an ode to Atatürk and Turkish independence (designed by Pietro Canonica, the sculptor of the Gazi Monument), and the Atatürk Cultural Center, a multi-purpose cultural center and opera house which was considered a manifestation of the Kemalist republic’s “openness to Western values.”[36] The square itself was a republican concept, brought into being in response to the dearth of public spaces that had defined Ottoman Istanbul.[37] However, after massive protests erupted by the square in 2013 that challenged Erdoğan’s growing authoritarianism and infringement on Kemalist secularism, the president took it upon himself to impose his definition of Turkish identity onto the city’s most important public forum. The Atatürk Cultural Center has been leveled, a rebuild of Ottoman-era barracks is in the works, and Atatürk and the Republic Monument are now overshadowed by the hulking, Ottoman-inspired, Taksim Mosque, located just steps away.[38] Once a representation of “liberal space and secularism,” Taksim Square has simply become another one of Erdoğan’s ideological interventions which seek to redefine Turkish identity.

Emphasizing the power Erdoğan’s new direction holds for the nation, these ideological interventions are now reaching Izmir. The city’s most notable construction project currently being undertaken is not another reinforcement of Atatürk-centric identity but is in fact a new 100 million lira mosque, which will have a capacity of 15,000 and boast the largest dome, in diameter, of all Middle Eastern and Balkan nations.[39] When completed, it will be many times larger than any mosque that has ever been constructed in Izmir and offer a clear contradiction to the Kemalist monuments Izmir’s leaders have planted all across their cityscape. Ulu Mosque, as it will be called, is being funded by the Nevvar Salih İşgören Foundation, a charitable organization based in Izmir with close ties to Erdoğan.[40] Though the money for the mosque came from the İşgören couple, the organization’s late founders, AKP Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, a staunch ally of Erdoğan, led the project. Yıldırım and Erdoğan, along with the Directorate of Environment and Urbanization, a federal body, and the Governor of Izmir, a federal appointee (as opposed to Izmir’s Metropolitan Mayor, a locally elected official), worked in conjunction to get legal and judicial approval for the project, as well as necessary permits to appropriate the site.[41] The initiative was executed entirely at the federal level, with no input or collaboration with local officials who no doubt would have rather seen the funds go to other, more pressing causes.

Izmir’s district and municipal mayors have stayed silent on the project and did not attend the mosque’s groundbreaking or its partial opening. This indicates a clear discrepancy between their own conception of how Turkish identity should be publicly embodied and the conception emitted by the towering Ottoman-style complex. Yet this feeling is not limited to the city’s political elites. Izmirian bloggers are calling the mosque a waste, a “pure show” which will become empty a mere month after its completion.[42] Local guides are wondering why the money was not used to build a school, and whether the stone used to construct it will fill people’s bellies in times of need.[43] Clearly, many Izmirians are not content with the imposition of this new narrative that challenges the legacy of Atatürk that is so strongly reified in their city’s monuments. As Izmir’s leaders grapple with increasingly divergent forces that threaten their Kemalist narrative of Turkish identity, who knows what they will build next?

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[1]Zülfikar Doğan, “Istanbul’s new airport likely to be named after Erdoğan, sources say,” Ahval News, October 28, 2018, https://ahvalnews.com/third-airport/istanbuls-new-airport-likely-be-named-after-erdogan-sources-say.

[2]Doğan, “Istanbul’s new airport likely to be named after Erdoğan, sources say.”

[3]Yusuf Kanlı, “The name of Istanbul's new airport,” Hurriyet Daily News, September 18, 2018, https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/opinion/yusuf-kanli/the-name-of-istanbuls-new-airport-136949.

[4]Zülfikar Doğan, “Istanbul’s new airport likely to be named after Erdoğan, sources say,” Ahval News, October 28, 2018, https://ahvalnews.com/third-airport/istanbuls-new-airport-likely-be-named-after-erdogan-sources-say.

[5]AFP, “Turkey's new Istanbul airport to be world's largest,” France 24, October 29, 2018, https://www.france24.com/en/20181029-turkeys-new-istanbul-airport-be-worlds-largest; Yusuf Kanlı, “The name of Istanbul's new airport,” Hurriyet Daily News, September 18, 2018, https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/opinion/yusuf-kanli/the-name-of-istanbuls-new-airport-136949; Zülfikar Doğan, “Istanbul’s new airport likely to be named after Erdoğan, sources say,” Ahval News, October 28, 2018, https://ahvalnews.com/third-airport/istanbuls-new-airport-likely-be-named-after-erdogan-sources-say.

[6]Daniel Goffman, Izmir and the Levantine World, 1550-1650. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1990), 145-146., Sedef Eylemer and Dilek Memisoglu, "The Borderland City of Turkey: Izmir from Past to the Present," Eurolimes19, (Spring, 2015):  175.

[7]Sedef Eylemer and Dilek Memisoglu, "The Borderland City of Turkey: Izmir from Past to the Present," Eurolimes19, (Spring, 2015): 178, 176., Sibel Zandi-Sayek, Ottoman Izmir: the rise of a cosmopolitan port, 1840/1880(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012), 1.

[8]Patrick Balfour Kinross. Atatürk, the rebirth of a nation. (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1965), 326.

[9]Andrew Mango, Atatürk (Great Britain: Johny Murray, 1999), 435.

[10]“A Day Full of History,” Visit Izmir, 2016, http://www.visitizmir.org/en/city-center/a-day-full-of-history.

[11]“A Day Full of History,” Visit Izmir.

[12]F. Cana Bisel, “Ideology and Urbanism During the Republican Period: Two Master Plans for Izmir and Scenarios of Modernization,” METU Journal of Faculty of Architecture, vol. 16, n. 1-2, 1996, 17-18.

[13]Bisel, “Ideology and Urbanism During the Republican Period,” 18.

[14]Andrew Mango, Atatürk (Great Britain: Johny Murray, 1999), 435.

[15]Marjorie Housepian Dobkin, Smyrna 1922: the destruction of a city(Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1988), 12.

[16]“Atatürk’e saygısızlık ettin Kocaoğlu,” Yeni Asır, March 7, 2017, https://www.yeniasir.com.tr/surmanset/2017/03/08/ataturke-saygisizlik-ettin-kocaoglu.

[17]Andrew Mango, Atatürk (Great Britain: Johny Murray, 1999), 550.

[18]Özlem Kaya, “On the Way to a New Constitution in Turkey: Constitutional History, Political Parties, and Civil Platforms,” Freidrich Ebert Stiftung, October, 2011.

[19]AFP News Agency, “Rally in Izmir for Turkish President’s Main Rival Has Huge Turnout,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, June 22, 2018, http://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-presidential-campaign-ince-izmir/29313583.html.

[20]“Buca'da, Milli Mücadele ve 9 Eylül Müzesi kuruldu,” Milliyet,September 19, 2009, http://www.milliyet.com.tr/buca-da-milli-mucadele-ve-9-eylul-muzesi-kuruldu/ege/haberdetay/19.09.2010/1290808/default.htm.

[21]Can Özlü, "İzmir'e 42 metrelik Atatürk dağı," Hurriyet Daily News,September 12, 2009, http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/izmire-42-metrelik-ataturk-dagi-12456206.

[22]Özlü "İzmir'e 42 metrelik Atatürk dağı,” Hurriyet Daily News.

[23]“The Monument of Atatürk, His Mother, and Women’s Rights,” T.C. Karşiyaka Belediyesi, http://www.karsiyaka.bel.tr/en/what-you-can-do/monuments-and-statues/monument-of-ataturk-his-mother-and-womens-rights.

[24]Mark Lowen, “Turkey election trip: Izmir looks West amid growing conservatism,” BBC, May 22, 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32825242.

[25]“Monument in Izmir receives two awards from England,” Hurriyet, October 30, 2018, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/monument-in-izmir-receives-two-awards-from-england-138423.

[26]“Monument in Izmir receives two awards from England,” Hurriyet.

[27]“Karşıyaka'nın ‘Kadına Saygı Müzesi' Açıldı,” Millyet News, April 11, 2018, http://www.milliyet.com.tr/yerel-haberler/izmir/karsiyakanin-kadina-saygi-muzesi-acildi-13133636.

[28]Selin Önen “A Feminist Perspective on Women’s Museums in Turkey: İzmir Case,” Kültür ve İletişim, 2019, 22(2): 136., Noor Falah Ogli, “From Seeking Survival to Urban Revival,” Refugees in Towns, 2018, https://www.refugeesintowns.org/izmir.

[29]“Karşıyaka'nın ‘Kadına Saygı Müzesi' Açıldı,” Millyet News, April 11, 2018, http://www.milliyet.com.tr/yerel-haberler/izmir/karsiyakanin-kadina-saygi-muzesi-acildi-13133636.

[30]“Karşıyaka'nın ‘Kadına Saygı Müzesi' Açıldı,” Millyet News.

[31]“Iftar for 7 Thousand People in Karşiyaka,” T.C. Karşiyaka Belediyesi, June 11, 2018, http://www.karsiyaka.bel.tr/en/news/iftar-for-7-thousand-people-in-karsiyaka.

[32]“Iftar for 7 Thousand People in Karşiyaka,” T.C. Karşiyaka Belediyesi,

[33]Personal Communication

[34]Esra Özyürek, Nostalgia for the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey(Durham: Duke University Press, 2006), 98.

[35]Carlotta Gall, “In Istanbul, Erdogan Remakes Taksim Square, a Symbol of Secular Turkey,” The New York Times, March 22, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/world/europe/in-istanbul-erdogan-remakes-taksim-square-a-symbol-of-secular-turkey.html.

[36]Gall, The New York Times.

[37]Patricia Alonso, “The new Taksim, or the defeat of public space,” Ahval News, March 11, 2018, https://ahvalnews.com/istanbul/new-taksim-or-defeat-public-space.

[38]Alonso, “The new Taksim, or the defeat of public space,” Ahval News.

[39]Tezcan Ekizler, “Ege Bölgesi'nin en büyük camisinin yapımı sürüyor,” Anadolu Ajansi, April 25, 2019, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/ege-bolgesinin-en-buyuk-camisinin-yapimi-suruyor/1462265.

[40]“İzmir'in Ulu Camisi,” Nevvar Salih İşgören Vakfı, December 22, 2017, http://www.nevvarsalihisgoren.org.tr/izmirin-ulu-camisi/.

[41]“İzmir'in Ulu Camisi,” Nevvar Salih İşgören Vakfı.

[42]“nevvar salih işgören izmir ulu mosque,” ekşi sözlük, May 15, 2019, https://eksisozluk.com/nevvar-salih-isgoren-izmir-ulu-camii—6039851.

[43]Google Reviews, “Nevvar Salih İşgören İzmir Ulu Camisi,” Google.