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Chapter Two The Election of I . smet I . nönü as President Kemalist Hegemony and Alternative Definitions In November 1938, Turkey’s long-standing President, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, passed away. I . smet I . nönü succeeded Atatürk in an atmosphere of considerable domestic and international tension, and confronted not only the problem of defining his own roles, as President and leader of the People’s Party, but also the problem of dealing with Atatürk and his legacy. Most scholarship presents the presidency of I . smet I . nönü as a simple extension of that of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and portrays the decisions, policies, and reforms of the period 1938–50 as the logical and inevitable continuation of the Kemalist program. To be sure, the continuity between the two presidencies is striking. But this approach tends to overlook I . nönü’s own role in redefining Kemalism to suit new needs, and minimizes the new international and domestic challenges that arose during World War II and the early Cold War, and the innovations devised to deal with new realities. While we cannot speak of anything approaching “I . nönü-ism,” it is possible to identify certain underlying assumptions and consistencies that guided the domestic and foreign policies of I . nönü’s presidency. First, the four main issues of Turkish politics continued throughout this period: defining and achieving development and progress, setting the role of the bureaucracy and military, defining nation and community, and establishing sound relations with the Western powers. Second, I . nönü’s presidency saw the development of consistent approaches to these four issues, based on principles that guided I . nönü in all matters: preparation, caution, and accountability . These principles guided I . nönü throughout his presidency, as they 27 28 THE POLITICS OF TURKISH DEMOCRACY had throughout his military and political career, but the first year of his presidency was the crucial year, as he had to establish his own authority, and deal with domestic and international crises of a massive scale. This chapter examines the election of I . smet I . nönü as the second President of Turkey, and the significance of his first year in office for the development of Turkish politics at the beginning of World War II. As President, he worked to prepare for war by balancing diplomatic relations with Germany, Britain, and the Soviet Union, so as to avoid active participation if possible, or at least to avoid a repeat of the disaster of World War I. At the same time his caution meant controlling political discourse, and defining the limits of acceptable alternatives to the Kemalist program. By reintegrating former opponents of Atatürk into the People’s Party, I . nönü worked both to form his own cadre, and to make the government more accountable— not in the sense of popular participation, but in the sense of broader representation of opinion. Adopting the National Defense Law not only established the government’s perception of preparation and caution within the country in the face of war, but also imposed the themes of “sacrifice, effort, cooperation, and patience” as the responsibilities of Turkish citizens. The Question of the Presidency: I . nönü or Bayar? According to the Turkish Constitution of 1924, the President of the Republic was to be elected by the Grand National Assembly from among its members. By the summer of 1938, Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was seriously ill, and hushed debates about the future of Turkey centered around the presidency. One group in the People’s Party saw I . smet I . nönü as the only possible choice to be the next President, and as the logical successor to Atatürk in leadership. But opposition to I . nönü came from others who interpreted his methods as dictatorial and his vision as conservative , and were convinced that his presidency would weaken the Kemalist reforms. Some of those who opposed him also had personal convictions that I . nönü would bring his own cadre into power, excluding them from the new government. Celâl Bayar was their alternative for President. I . smet I . nönü, hero of the War of Independence and Prime Minister for twelve years, and Celâl Bayar, current Prime Minister, were the two main possibilities for the presidency. Opposition to I . nönü’s presidency centered around a group of cabinet members including the Foreign Minister Tevfik Rüştü Aras, the Minister of the Interior Şükrü Kaya...

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