America and the Making of Modern Turkey: Science, Culture and Political Alliances

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Ali Erken

America and the Making of Modern Turkey

Science, Culture and Political Alliances

Ali Erken

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English

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
19 September 2019

Middle Eastern history; Islamic studies; Sociology; International relations; Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's government encouraged substantial American investment in education and aid. It was argued that Turkey needed the technical skills and wealth offered by American education, and so a series of American schools was set up across the country to educate the Turkish youth. Here, Ali Erken, in the first study of its kind, argues that these organizations had a huge impact on political and economic thought in Turkey - acting as a form of `soft power' for US national interests throughout the 20th Century. Robert College, originally a missionary school founded by US benefactors, has been responsible for educating two Turkish Prime Ministers, writers such as Orhan Pamuk and a huge number of influential economists, politicians and journalists. The end result of these American philanthropic efforts, Erken argues, was a consensus in the 1970s that the country must `westernize'. This mindset, and the opposition viewpoint it engendered, has come to define political struggle in modern Turkey - torn between a capitalist `modern' West and an Islamic `Ottoman' East. The book also reveals how and why the Rockefeller and Ford foundations funneled large amounts of money into Turkey post-1945, and undertook activities in support of `Western' candidates in Turkey as a bulwark against the Soviet Union. This is an essential contribution to the history of US-Turkish relations, and the influence of the West in Turkish political thought.

By: Ali Erken
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
Weight: 281g
ISBN: 9781838604684
ISBN 10: 1838604685
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 19 September 2019
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ali Erken is Lecturer in Middle East Studies at the University of Marmara in Turkey. He completed his DPhil at Oxford University