Republicanism, nationalism, and economic choices

In the transition from a communal society to a civil society, from an agricultural society to an industrial society, and from a feudal social order to a contemporary social order, political-economic choices are decisive. This is because capital accumulation, class preferences, priorities in tax policies, relations of production-property-distribution, what is prioritized in investments, and the financing of these investments are all directly related to political-economic choices.

Statism, the social state, state intervention, and how and with what tools and to what extent the market will be intervened in are also related to class preferences. Republicanism, which also means public-mindedness and planning, therefore places great importance on the principles of statism and populism on the economic plane. The Great Depression of 1929 also turned this orientation from a preference into a necessity. It has become well-established in the world that without a social state and without public intervention, social justice is not possible. There is a vast and rich literature in economics on mixed economy, social market economy, and planned economy. In this context, import-substituting economic policies, planning, planned industrialization, planned development, and the establishment of economic enterprises, factories, and industrial facilities under public leadership are particularly important.

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a leader who placed great importance on the economy. Even before the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne and the proclamation of the Republic, he determined our country's priorities with very broad participation at the First Turkey Economics Congress (commonly called the İzmir Economics Congress, February 17 – March 4, 1923) held in İzmir, under the conditions of that day. Subsequently, with the impact of the 1929 Great Depression, statism turned into a more dominant preference. This preference is also compatible with our country's conditions and global circumstances.

Indeed, in the USA, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (also referred to briefly as FDR by his initials in the US) followed a program after 1933 that advocated for the importance and intervention of the public in the economy, increased federal spending, and social welfare, known as the "New Deal," to heal the wounds of the Great Depression and make a new move. The famous British economist John Maynard Keynes also closely examined this model followed by Roosevelt and made similar proposals.

In Atatürk's economic model, a balanced budget, a production economy, and industrialization under public leadership are important. In accordance with the principle of moderate statism, the private sector is encouraged. The use of domestic goods is promoted, and a culture of savings is developed. The social dimension of factories (afforestation activities, housing, balls, theater clubs, sports teams, nurseries, choirs, etc.) was supported. The self-confidence, pleasure, and consciousness of producing and consuming what is produced were highlighted.

Kemalist statism is not a harsh, rigid statism. It is a moderate, temperate statism. It does not exclude private ownership of the means of production. It does not leave society to the mercy of the market. It advocates for the state to be an entrepreneur itself in areas, sectors, and lines of business where the private sector is reluctant, lacks the power, or does not find it profitable. It adopts the state being an entrepreneur in areas that are productive, profitable, create employment, and have strategic importance. It does not see the state only as a regulator and supervisor. It believes in the state's priority duties, responsibilities, and obligations according to the requirements of social benefit, public interest, and the common good. It is in favor of the absolute and unconditional presence of the state in areas where the social state takes shape and is most needed, especially in education and health.

The Republic does not see the school and the hospital as businesses, the student and the patient as customers, the school principal, the hospital chief physician, or the university rector as a company/holding CEO, or the teacher and the doctor as marketing personnel or sales representatives. The state is primarily responsible for healthy, sustainable, and stable development, for reaching a welfare society, and for offering its citizens a peaceful, honorable, and happy life. The state cannot abandon this fundamental duty. It cannot delegate this duty. It cannot share this duty with any other organization, structure, or apparatus. The principle of statism is the symbol and guarantee of this understanding.

The decay that came with the January 24 Decisions

Following the decisions of January 24, 1980, Turkey entered a path of, in Uğur Mumcu's definition, "the dollarization of the Turkish Lira, the liberalization of the Turkish economy, and the Islamization of Turkish society." During the Turgut Özal years, a free-market economy based on competition, privatization, liberalism, neoliberalism, the suppression of wages, the reduction of public spending, and compliance with IMF and World Bank prescriptions were adopted. Consumption instead of production, spending instead of saving, and imports instead of exports were encouraged and preferred. Chicago Boys programs advocating for savage capitalism and rampant liberalism were followed. During the Turgut Özal years, also known for his admiration for US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the middle class collapsed, inflation rose, and in the domestic market, which became a paradise for imported goods, not only the economy and politics but also moral values decayed rapidly.

With globalization, deregulation, free-market economy, free trade, free competition, neoliberalism, and postmodernism, defending reason and science, labor, equality, social justice, equal opportunity, populism, statism, public-mindedness, and collectivism in Turkey were almost labeled as backwardness, being out of date, or being a dinosaur.

We know that the Turkish economy has structural problems. Such as high foreign trade deficit, high inflation, high unemployment, high exchange rates, and high foreign debt... Although Turkey is among the world's 20 largest economies, it is not a major actor in global economic competition. Its share in the world economy is below 1.5 percent. It cannot escape the middle-income trap. Even in periods when the growth rate is relatively high, it has not been able to achieve the expected increase in employment. The minimum wage is the prevailing wage. It is enduring the painful consequences of consuming more than it produces, importing more than it exports, and trying to roll over debt with debt.

Frequent tax amnesties, the frequently changed public procurement law, and the inclusion of money of unknown origin into the system without questioning its source negatively affect not only the economic and financial structure but also the moral structure and the society's sense of justice. Importing from abroad with borrowed money is not a success. Unless the production of products containing advanced technology and products with high added value is increased, and their share in exports is raised, and economic externalities are achieved, it is impossible to stand out in global economic competition. The defense industry, which has made a breakthrough in recent years, is a successful example in this field. With agriculture, textiles, tourism, and the construction sector, more is not possible, and there are serious problems in these areas as well. For a developed economy, it is necessary to first be in the top 20 in the world in the export of products containing advanced technology, and then to enter the top 10.

If the minimum wage becomes the prevailing wage...

According to World Bank data, Turkey, which is the world's 17th largest economy with a GDP of 1.32 trillion dollars, cannot make a leap forward as long as it produces in labor-intensive sectors, sectors where worker wages constitute the largest cost item, sectors where cheap, uninsured, unorganized, and insecure labor is concentrated, and sectors containing low-to-medium level technology. Relying on cheap Syrian, Afghan, and Central Asian labor—which some politicians and business people want to remain—and pushing these laborers forward to suppress the demands of Turkish workers for better wages, broader social rights, and safer jobs does not enrich Turkey. It increases income inequality. It accelerates brain drain. It makes poverty permanent.

Turkey must place special importance on agriculture while arable agricultural land is decreasing, and the population working in agriculture is decreasing and aging, and while it imports agricultural and livestock products from more than 100 countries. Because agriculture is strategic. Food security is strategic. We have vast and fertile lands, and a deep-rooted and rich agricultural culture and experience. Our potential in organic agriculture is high. It is essential to distribute agriculture, industry, and the service sector in a balanced way across Turkey and to do this within a holistic plan ranging from transportation to logistics, and from education to urbanization.

The War of Independence and the economy of the Republic

After the War of Independence, the Republic took great pride in producing the three "whites" most needed in our country, which went down in history as flour, sugar, and cloth, ourselves. Just like the pride we felt when we established 46 factories between 1923 and 1938... Turks would no longer import shroud cloth (also called American cloth among the public because it was imported from the USA). Our country is no longer in need of roof tiles (called Marseille tiles because they were imported from France). The Republic, which did not have schools and teachers in 37 thousand of its 40 thousand villages when it was founded in 1923, opened an aircraft factory in Kayseri in 1926 (officially named TOMTAŞ, it started operations with 50 Turkish and 120 German employees).

Let us recall that the Republic would also pay the debts of the Ottoman Empire—which restructured its debts it could not pay with the Ramadan Decree in 1875, and established the Public Debt Administration (Duyunu Umumiye) in 1881 to oversee all economic activities of the state on behalf of foreigners for the purpose of paying the debts, thereby losing its economic and financial independence—until 1954.

Populism, the other principle of the Republican Revolution in the economic sense, should be considered together with statism. Because it is the ground for communal democracy and class-based democratic struggle. It is against economic and class inequalities. It advocates for social justice and the social state. It knows that labor is the highest value. The following definition made by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to explain the populist, pro-labor, communal, and social justice-oriented aspect of the Republic is the most realistic and valid definition of the social state: "The Republic is, above all, the protector of the unprotected."

The secularism of the Republic is also the ground for nationalism

The Civil Code and the laws that secularize society and the state are particularly important. Because secularism is as necessary for the nation as it is for the national state. Individualization, citizenship consciousness, and nation-building cannot happen without secularism. If a nation is to be free, it must consist of free citizens. Secularism is the foundation and ground for this as well. If a nation is not free, there is no meaning in the members of that nation being nationalist. Besides these, secularism is also the ground for democracy, gender equality, free science, the development of class consciousness, equal opportunity, and the advancement of those who possess competence and merit. If a sense of responsibility towards society is to develop, and if the citizen providing public service is to look at the citizen receiving public service with an equal eye, and not engage in favoritism or grant privileges to anyone, that state must be secular. Therefore, the Republic is also equal opportunity.

The Republic's understanding of secularism is the foundation of communal democracy, national integrity, citizen identity, freedom of thought and expression, scientific development, and the sovereignty of reason. It separates religious and worldly affairs. It is respectful of all kinds of beliefs, worship, and non-belief. It prevents them from establishing dominance over one another. In addition to being respectful of beliefs, it is also the guarantee of freedom of belief. It is against the commercialization of religion, the use of religion for personal and political purposes, the exploitation of citizens' religious beliefs, and the deception of citizens with values that religion considers sacred. Secularism is the guarantee of social peace and national unity.

It is worth underlining that the Republic knows the citizen, recognizes the citizen, and takes the citizen as its interlocutor. It makes the social contract with the citizen. It does not make it with tribes, hometown associations, ethnic, religious, or sectarian identities, or sects and communities. On the contrary, the Republic knows that such structures, institutions, and remnants of medieval and feudal affiliations and memberships weaken the identity of the citizen and the nation. Republican nationalism is open to the world. It does not shy away from competing with the world. It is against a closed regime and a closed social structure. It is not racist, expansionist, aggressive, or adventurous. It is not ambitious, resentful, or irritable. It is realistic and rational. It is peaceful. It is embracing and inclusive. A Republican knows that it is not possible to protect the integrity of the homeland by separating, polarizing, and dividing the nation within itself. Because if the unity and solidarity of the nation are not complete, it becomes difficult to protect the integrity of the homeland. Ignoring the national state, eroding national identity, and weakening national consciousness and national culture inevitably open the unity of the homeland to debate and put it in danger in the end.

In the eyes of the Republic, the citizen is an individual who has strong legal, political, historical, cultural, and social ties to the nation and the Republic, and who has duties and responsibilities alongside their freedoms and rights. In the eyes of the Republic, the citizen is an individual who constitutes the nation and has equal rights before the law. In this respect, the state and the nation exist in both the consciousness and conscience of the citizen. The Republic is, of course, libertarian. In addition to being libertarian, it is egalitarian and advocates for social justice. It does not sacrifice one for the other. It does not ignore the others in the name of one. It embraces them all together. For the Republic, equality, freedom, and justice are indispensable principles; they are fundamental principles that complement and complete each other. These principles are the ground for loyalty and belonging to the state, the nation, and the homeland.

The Republic places citizenship consciousness at the foundation of individual identity. The overarching identity, national identity, common identity, and commitment to the nation are reinforced by populism and public-mindedness on a social and class level. Thanks to this, the Republic believes that it will realize rights, justice, and equality not in name but in essence, not on paper but in practice. Thanks to this, it finds its soul in the constitution. It thinks that it will overcome all kinds of privilege, favoritism, injustice, and inequality in this way. It tries to minimize class inequalities and economic inequalities with the social state, public intervention, and statist economic policy.

The Republic's understanding of nationalism is not based on race, religion, sect, or ethnic origin. It has been woven, formed, established, and reinforced over thousands of years. It is based on a common identity and belonging that has not only historical dimensions but also cultural, social, political, emotional, and economic dimensions. It is based on the unity of land, history, and culture, and the bond of homeland and nation, which gives its name to the Ankara University Faculty of Languages, History and Geography. The Turkish overarching identity, Turkish common identity, and Turkish national identity were not formed just like that, randomly or by chance. The Turkish Nation and the Republic of Turkey were founded through war and revolution. They were formed through war and revolution. This is a War of Independence waged against imperialism and its domestic extensions during the First World War, a historical breaking point where a great upheaval was experienced on a national, regional, and global level, and in the following years.

The Republican Revolution, besides being a revolution of national sovereignty, is also a revolution of enlightenment. It changed the root, definition, meaning, and function of sovereignty. It took sovereignty from the heavens and brought it down to earth; it took it out of the religious realm and made it worldly; it took it from the individual and gave it to the nation. The name of the people who made this revolution is the Turkish Nation. Therefore, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's definition of the nation is very clear: "The people of Turkey who founded the Republic of Turkey are called the Turkish Nation." That is why the Republic, while considering sub-identities natural and respecting these identities, is against these sub-identities becoming politicized, emerging with a group identity, bargaining with the state, engaging in organized struggle to be taken as an interlocutor as a group identity, or replacing or being placed alongside the overarching identity and national identity.

Behind all the successes of the young Republic lies the nation-state, national will, and national sovereignty. This is one of the great differences of the Republic from the Ottoman Empire. Because there was a parliament in the Ottoman State, but there was no national sovereignty in the sense we understand; the will of the nation was not absolute, there was no nation consciousness, and there was no citizenship consciousness. The consciousness of the homeland was not developed. There were subjects, servants, and property of the Sultan. Ottoman modernization, specifically Ottoman military modernization, cannot be ignored or denied, but secularism, women's rights, the civil code, equality of citizens, national sovereignty, and national consciousness all developed with the Republic. In a society that is a remnant of an empire, defeated in war, and has seen occupation, achieving this by becoming a state and a nation at the same time, and doing so by fighting, and carrying the idea and action of national sovereignty to power is not a success to be underestimated, ignored, neglected, or disregarded.

The Atatürk Revolution, the Republican Revolution, and the Kemalist Revolution are not just a political revolution. It is a social revolution, a cultural revolution, a legal revolution, an economic revolution, an enlightenment revolution, and a revolution of mentality. It is the embodiment of the determination of our great thinker Ziya Gökalp that "Social revolution is more difficult than political revolution." From the increasing weight of women in the public sphere to the literacy mobilization, from Village Institutes and National Schools to universities, from the industrial move to the steps taken in the field of culture and art, and from health institutions to policies aimed at the peasantry, it is a holistic development understanding and a project to create the citizen and the nation.