This thesis is about cultural transformation through migration between the Turkish district of Emirdağ and the diaspora in Belgium. In this research, the poems from Emirdağ and the poems from the...Show moreThis thesis is about cultural transformation through migration between the Turkish district of Emirdağ and the diaspora in Belgium. In this research, the poems from Emirdağ and the poems from the diaspora were analyzed using the qualitative research method narrative analysis. In the analysis, the reflection of cultural transformation through migration in Emirdağ's poetry has been observed. The results provide an insight into the migration culture and the outcomes of socio-cultural and economic transnationalism.Show less
This study examines the solidarity alliances of the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Additionally, it poses the question, whether these alliances challenge a more...Show moreThis study examines the solidarity alliances of the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Additionally, it poses the question, whether these alliances challenge a more exclusive national identity that is established in the official Turkish discourse. The alliances that are touched upon are the political environment of Diyarbakir; the celebration of Newroz; the commemoration of murder of Hrant Dink; and Armenian and Assyrian Genocide commemorations. I argue that the main manifestation of most of these solidarities is creation of more openness about the Genocides, in especially Kurdish discourse. The alliances depicted in this paper are each different and each form a different degree of challenge to the Turkish national identity. I conclude that the political environment of Diyarbakir forms the greatest threat, which can be perceived in the state’s crackdown of its established institutions and initiatives of cultural practices, as it does not fit the homogenous identity that the Turkish State ascribes to itself.Show less
This study examines the solidarity alliances of the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Additionally, it poses the question, whether these alliances challenge a more...Show moreThis study examines the solidarity alliances of the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Additionally, it poses the question, whether these alliances challenge a more exclusive national identity that is established in the official Turkish discourse. The alliances that are touched upon are the political environment of Diyarbakir; the celebration of Newroz; the commemoration of murder of Hrant Dink; and Armenian and Assyrian Genocide commemorations. I argue that the main manifestation of most of these solidarities is creation of more openness about the Genocides, in especially Kurdish discourse. The alliances depicted in this paper are each different and each form a different degree of challenge to the Turkish national identity. I conclude that the political environment of Diyarbakir forms the greatest threat, which can be perceived in the state’s crackdown of its established institutions and initiatives of cultural practices, as it does not fit the homogenous identity that the Turkish State ascribes to itself.Show less
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) are on their way to becoming the next step in the evolution of warfare and power projection. As the increasing proliferation of armed drones in recent years...Show moreUnmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) are on their way to becoming the next step in the evolution of warfare and power projection. As the increasing proliferation of armed drones in recent years suggests, UCAVs are starting to replace the conventional military units and introduce new dimensions to armed conflicts. This study seeks to understand how these new capabilities shape the foreign policy behavior of states. By introducing three causal mechanisms, namely cost efficiency, operational and strategic superiority, and risk reduction, the study suggests that some unique characteristics of UCAVs have profound effects on state behavior. With a focus on the case of Turkey, the study concludes that the introduction of the armed drones to the Turkish national inventory played a major role in the reorientation and paradigm change of Turkish Foreign Policy (TFP) after 2016.Show less
This study analyses the portrayal of women in Turkish films on the Dutch Netflix. With the help of three concepts from feminist film theory, namely male gaze, male voice and female subjectivity,...Show moreThis study analyses the portrayal of women in Turkish films on the Dutch Netflix. With the help of three concepts from feminist film theory, namely male gaze, male voice and female subjectivity, and with the help from earlier studies on the portrayal of women in Turkish films, it finds that women in the Turkish films on the Dutch Netflix are overall portrayed in more passive ways than men, that the female characters often play a supporting role as compared to the male characters and that the concepts from feminist film theorists can still be applied to recently released films. Some films in the corpus however also contain feminist themes and elements, such as female protagonists and female characters that are not occupied with a search for love, but focus on their own personal development. This study concludes that while women are overall not portrayed in a positive way in the corpus, these feminist themes show a promising development that will hopefully continue in the future.Show less
Child marriage is connected to several socio-economical and sociocultural factors. Many people make the misunderstanding to link the practice to religion or a specific country/area or claim that ...Show moreChild marriage is connected to several socio-economical and sociocultural factors. Many people make the misunderstanding to link the practice to religion or a specific country/area or claim that "only poor people marry their daughters off at an early age". To what extent are girls protected by their countries laws, and are the underlying causes the same in the three countries or are there significant differences?Show less
This thesis discusses the secular-Islamic feminist paradigm in the Middle East, specifically in Turkey, and the thesis focusses on the current feminist debate between secular and Islamic feminists...Show moreThis thesis discusses the secular-Islamic feminist paradigm in the Middle East, specifically in Turkey, and the thesis focusses on the current feminist debate between secular and Islamic feminists in Turkey.Show less
The thesis provides a multilevel analysis of how democratic ideas of post-secularism can result in undemocratic policies of anti-secularism. Although AKP initially supported as a cure to Turkey's...Show moreThe thesis provides a multilevel analysis of how democratic ideas of post-secularism can result in undemocratic policies of anti-secularism. Although AKP initially supported as a cure to Turkey's existing problems resulted from Kemalist secularism, and this approach is supported by the EU in the process of integration, the unexpected result is the authoritarian desecularization and populist Islamization of policies in Turkey. The thesis analyzes the desecularization of policies under AKP in three main areas of education, family, and the public sphere.Show less
Research master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA)
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The discussions surrounding the authenticity of the extra-Qur'ānic traditions in Islam has been a prevalent theme in the scholarship for the last six decades. This thesis is about the modern...Show moreThe discussions surrounding the authenticity of the extra-Qur'ānic traditions in Islam has been a prevalent theme in the scholarship for the last six decades. This thesis is about the modern polemics surrounding the parts of the Islamic tradition with supposed Jewish origins, also known as the “Isrāʾīliyyāt”. The term Isrāʾīliyyāt has been the subject of numerous religious-polemical works since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with Modernist Muslim commentators arguing for the ejection of this material to make way for a return to pristine Islam. Although such arguments against Isrāʾīliyyāt find considerable coverage in the academic literature, the dynamic exegetical scene in Turkey is often neglected. Highlighting the discussions in Turkey, this research aims to bring out the contemporary debates about Isrāʾīliyyāt therein with a study of the ‘new media’, a platform that is widely used by preachers from different ideological camps. This thesis seeks to situate the Turkish case within the larger Middle Eastern context of Modernist Islam by discovering the connections between exegetes from different localities and eras, aiming to locate the intellectual influences of the figures that are studied.Show less
The goal of this thesis is to focus on the Greek women of Istanbul and how all these political events influenced their lives, while also providing an analysis of their language choices and their...Show moreThe goal of this thesis is to focus on the Greek women of Istanbul and how all these political events influenced their lives, while also providing an analysis of their language choices and their status in the society of Istanbul. The analyses will be based on a set of letters of written by Sophia to her daughter Elpida who moved from Istanbul to Netherlands in 1954. In addition to these letters, other sources of data include interviews of five Istanbul Greek women, information from the Society of Greeks of Istanbul and books that have collected testimonies, newspaper articles and report of the Greek consul and speeches of Turkish officials. It can be concluded from all these source materials that the Greek women of Istanbul were unequivocally influenced by the political events of 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s in distinctive ways.Show less
This thesis titled studies the localization of Maoism as a global ideology among the milieu of Turkish leftists in the years 1969–1971.The thesis titled “Maoism in Turkey” studies the localization...Show moreThis thesis titled studies the localization of Maoism as a global ideology among the milieu of Turkish leftists in the years 1969–1971.The thesis titled “Maoism in Turkey” studies the localization of Maoism as a global ideology among the milieu of Turkish leftists in the years 1969–1971. In doing so, it analyzes the debates on and about Maoism within the intellectual field around the journal Proleter Devrimci Aydnlk (Proletarian Revolutionary Enlightenment, PDA). This thesis divided into three parts, The first part assesses how Maoism sprawled from China and reached the rest of the world, included Turkey. The second part assesses why Turkish leftist group adopt Maoism and the establishment of the Maoist Journal of Proleter Devrimci Aydınlık. The third part, “Debating Maoism in PDA Journal”, will deal with how Maoism was interpreted by Turkish leftists from 1969 to 1971, through an analysis of the Proleter Devrimci Aydınlık journal and other related leftist journals.Show less
In the early 1980s, the number of asylum seekers doubled in West Germany and the issue got increasingly politicised. Most of the asylum seekers originated from Turkey where political unrest and...Show moreIn the early 1980s, the number of asylum seekers doubled in West Germany and the issue got increasingly politicised. Most of the asylum seekers originated from Turkey where political unrest and socio-ethnic conflicts were widespread. In this setting, Turkish asylum seekers belonging to Christian minorities became a source of controversy within the German Federal Ministry of the Interior. This thesis looks into the dynamics of asylum politics through analysing primary sources from the Federal Ministry of the Interior that depict the most important intergovernmental, federal and societal governance actors who either argued in favour of or against the admission of this specific group of asylum seekers. Their interplay is examined with the help of four main concepts under the umbrella of the gap hypothesis, which explain why the Christian asylum seekers were granted a right to stay in the long run although their asylum applications were first rejected: The liberal paradox of democratic states and the difficulty of interpreting the right of asylum gave room for multiple actors negotiating the case. Eventually, the positively constructed social class of the asylum seekers enabled the political realm to reach consensus to smartly settle the liberal paradox with a generously applied hardship regulation.Show less
