Republic, Nation-State, and Citizenship

The history of states, nations, and peoples does not progress in a straight line. There are ebbs and flows in all of them. There are ups and downs. There are rises and falls. There are victories and defeats. 

Comparing, contrasting, and weighing what nations have done and failed to do, what they have achieved and failed to achieve, does not always yield the correct result. In fact, it often leads to incorrect conclusions. This is because every nation's development process is different. Every nation develops and progresses by overcoming the obstacles in its path and solving its problems. It has never been seen that any nation has outsmarted history, tunneled under it, or pole-vaulted over it. Every nation has its own unique conditions, historical, political, social, economic, geographical, and cultural circumstances, experiences, and accumulations. Therefore, it is necessary to examine, interpret, and understand every nation and every state with this objective perspective. This is a requirement of conscience as much as it is of reason, science, and logic. 

The Republic of Türkiye is a state founded through war and revolution. One of the reasons why Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was so sensitive and so protective regarding full independence and national sovereignty is this founding process. The war was a war of independence waged against imperialism. The revolution was a revolution of sovereignty and enlightenment. It is a revolution that changed the root and source of sovereignty; that brought sovereignty down from the heavens to the earth, took it from the individual and gave it to the nation, and transformed it from a religious concept into a secular one. 

In political science, in a short and simple definition, the Republic is called the common name for regimes that are not monarchies. While in a monarchy there is a dynasty and a rule passed from father to son, this does not exist in a Republic. However, not every state with "Republic" in its name is a Republic in the ideal sense. Nor is it a democracy. Therefore, when one thinks of a Republic, the national will immediately comes to mind. Because the Republic derives its legitimacy from the nation. The source of legislative and executive power is the people. It is a form of government where those who govern derive their authority to rule from a source that is not divine or religious, or in a clearer and more ideal definition, from the nation. 

If the will of the people is in question, then government of the people, by the people, for the people is understood. The word "Cumhur" (Republic) in Arabic means the public, the populace, the crowd. "Cumhuri" and "Cumhurriye" mean belonging to the nation or the people. The Republic comes from the Latin "res-publica." "Res" means thing or affair, and "publica" means public. It is used in the sense of public property, belonging to the people. For this reason, there is a close relationship between the Republic and public-mindedness or publicness. 

The Republic Was Founded Through Revolution

Many republics around the world, including Türkiye, were established by overthrowing monarchies and liquidating feudalism. For this reason, there is a strong relationship between the Republic and the state, democracy, the nation, national will, national sovereignty, nationalism, independence, the national market, the national bourgeoisie, enlightenment, and secularism. 

As in the case of Türkiye, in a Republic born from the ashes of an empire where capital accumulation was weak, the bourgeoisie was powerless, the working class was frail and unorganized, which had not experienced the Industrial Revolution, had not reached the capitalist stage, and had fallen into a semi-colonial status, the national democratic revolution was achieved under the leadership of military and civilian intellectuals. During the War of Independence, while Atatürk organized the war with the great sacrifice, support, and heroism of the people, the Turkish people became a state while becoming a nation, and became a nation while becoming a state. 

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is both the leader of the War of Independence and the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, both in theory and in practice. It was Atatürk who designed and implemented the strategy. Like every great revolutionary, Atatürk, who was a Jacobin and a genius of timing, organized the nation first, then the parliament, and then the army. Thanks to this, the Turkish people, the overwhelming majority of whom were oppressed and poor, waged the world's most magnificent war of national liberation against imperialism and its local collaborators. The war waged against internal collaborators and rebels was, at times, more difficult and arduous than the war waged against the occupying enemy. This simple truth is the bronze law of Third World Revolutions. 

The Republic, alongside its other definitions, is public-mindedness and planning. Planned economy, planned industrialization, planned development, and the establishment of large industrial facilities and factories (State Economic Enterprises) under public leadership and ownership are distinguished examples of this understanding of the Republic. With a holistic approach to development, great and revolutionary steps were taken on the path of progress, not only in economic terms but also in social, cultural, and artistic aspects. 

Several goals were pursued in taking these steps in the economy and industry. One of them was to achieve economic independence and to get rid of the pressure of imperialism. The other was to create a national bourgeoisie. The state's function of being a pioneer and intervening when necessary, beyond just setting rules and supervising their implementation, requires this. 

The Republic Is Full Independence and National Sovereignty

The Republic is much more jealous and sensitive regarding national sovereignty, full independence, and freedom compared to democracy. For example, provided that democracy functions well, a democrat might not object to being a mandate of another state or living under protection and tutelage. But a Republican would never accept such a situation. For them, being independent from the outside is just as important as how important and indispensable it is to live freely in their own country. 

The Republic is also very sensitive about sovereignty belonging absolutely to the nation and the citizen. For this reason, the Republic prefers social democracy. It cares about equality not only on paper or before the law, but also in political and social life. Equality of opportunity, social justice, and the social state are indispensable to the Republic. For this reason, Atatürk said: "The Republic is, above all, the protector of the unprotected." 

The Republic does not discriminate among its citizens based on religion, race, sect, age, nationality, gender, place of birth, culture, or political preference. It is indifferent, unconcerned, and insensitive to these. The Republic is a regime of a higher identity, a common identity, and a national identity. It does not address sub-identities. 

In corrupted democracies that have surrendered to the market and money, parties that are not really different from each other, or whose differences are like the difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, come to the fore. Especially in the age of neoliberalism and postmodernism, the differences between political parties have become increasingly blurred. This situation corrupts democracy and causes the Republic to decay. Therefore, the Republic tries to protect its citizens from the domination of money. It does not oppose the market economy, but it opposes the market society. It objects to political parties acting as spokespersons for the ruling classes in politics. As the famous French thinker Régis Debray said: "In a Republic, politics dominates the economy, whereas in a democracy, the economy dominates politics."