Neutralized Politics by Bureaucratic Power in Turkey from 1923 to 2002

Abstract

Although the Republic of Turkey is recognized as a country figured in opposition to the heritage of and in contrast with the Ottoman Empire, it is obvious that this viewpoint does not fully comply with realities. In this regard, it is possible to claim that the attempt of a bureaucratic group to control the whole social and political area, which also revealed itself for centuries in the Ottoman Period and became more evident in its last periods, has passed to the Republic. Center-periphery relationship established by both the bureaucracy and the public with the spirit of Kuva-yi Milliye (meaning either National Forces or Nationalist Forces in Ottoman Turkish) has evolved into a bureaucratic management structure upon the foundation of the Republic.