Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin 50. Yılı Kutlamaları

Abstract

This study aims to compare the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Republic of Türkiye with its predecessors and examples from abroad and to reveal the activities and themes covered within the scope of the celebrations. The study is significant because it will fill to the gap in the field of Republic celebrations after 1960, especially with its unique quality in terms of comparing it with examples from the outside world, focusing on the celebrations held in the provinces and revealing the perspectives of the witnesses of the period. The study consists of 3 chapters apart from the introduction. In the introduction, the definition, importance, limitations of the subject, general information about the concepts used, the method of the research and the studies conducted in the field are mentioned. In the first chapter, national day celebrations in the USSR, Iran, Greece and the USA are analyzed in general terms, and comparisons are made with their recent successors to reveal whether the themes have changed. In the same chapter, the celebrations of national and public holidays in Türkiye from the Ottoman Empire to the 50th Anniversary of the Republic are analyzed, and a background for the study is created. The second section analyses the effects of events and celebrations in all areas of the celebration process on the press and publications. This section underlines the frequency and methodology of the messages that the state conveys to its target audience through all events and official ceremonies in Türkiye. In the third section, the aims and expectations attributed to the celebrations, the evaluations made about the celebrations, the accounting of the past in many areas related to the pre-Republican and Republican periods, and the state's and the press's perspective on the current situation of the period are examined. In the 50th Anniversary of Türkiye, it has been tried to reveal in which areas the state's approach and the expectations for the future outlined in the press are concentrated. The oral history study conducted with the witnesses of the period has also determined how the messages given by the state to the target audience remained in the memories. The findings are discussed at the end of all sub-sections and main sections of the study. In the end, conclusions were made about the functions of national holidays, the emphases put forward, and the celebrations in terms of examples from abroad. The celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the Republic continued to be modelled on the 10th Anniversary celebrations; however, it was the most enthusiastically celebrated Republic Day after the 10th Anniversary among the other decades. The opening of the Bosphorus Bridge during the celebration week marked the ceremonies. The official ceremonies part of the celebrations, whose main principles did not change significantly, continued to carry a secular character. Although the celebrations were influenced by the political atmosphere shaped by the elections, they remained far from being an arena of political contention, and the state tried to convey its messages to all segments of society with all its power. During the celebration process, which was based on emphasizing the concepts of Kemalism and the achievements of the Republic, national unity and solidarity, independence, democracy, freedom, fundamental rights and freedoms, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, peace and a respectable state, an accounting of the 50 years was made with a broad and common-sense approach. While emphasizing the compatibility of the Republican administration with the Islamic religion, the opening of the Bosphorus Bridge was also used to convey the message of being a bridge of civilization between the East and the West as a part of the Western world. In the discourses where the emphasis was frequently repeated that all developments started thanks to Atatürk and the Republican regime, the image of Atatürk was shaped as a longed-for, meritorious, famous and outstanding statesman. Although the 50th Anniversary did not reveal a broad vision of civilization for the future, the celebrations took place in a positive and hopeful atmosphere, and abstract rather than concrete elements were more present in the memories of the witnesses of the period. The celebration methods of the five countries whose important national days were examined were observed to have similar characteristics. By highlighting the military, history and historical personalities of their nations and their contributions to world civilization, the states tried to convey a message of self-confidence and hope internally and a solid and rooted regime externally.