Political Opposition in Turkey: An Analysis of the Oppositionist Styles of Necip Fazil Kisakurek and Nazim Hikmet Ran

Abstract

Opposition culture in a society gives important clues about the socio-political structure of the country. The more a country welcomes differences in its social, political and cultural life; the more it comes close to a democratic regime. Opposition in Turkey, in its long history, has always been problematic because of the domination of statism not only in politics but also in other fields, such as social and cultural areas. In general perception of Turkey, separating from the central opinion has always been equal to chaos, which prevents the development of opposition cult in socio-political life. Supporting the refusal of opposition through some religious factors, Turkish political culture, starting with the Ottoman period, has settled such a limited understanding that it doesn’t allow an ideal form of opposition to grow. However it is known that political opposition, if practiced well, can help a political structure to renew itself, to continue development, to have a dynamic management and to reflect the preferences of people as many as possible. All these important points bring the necessity to analyse the social and political opposition culture in Turkey deeply. Therefore this study first tries to take attention to the understanding of importance of opposition culture in the eyes of politics and society. By analysing striking actors in Turkish literature Necip Fazil K?sakurek and Nazim Hikmet, the study aims to underline how the perception of opposition gave harm to political and social development of the country. By the way, this analysis reveals the need for a better understanding and practice of opposition culture for further developments in Turkey. The study starts with a general theoretical framework of opposition; in which the definition and scope of political opposition, different types and importance of opposition culture are explained. In the second part, Turkish political culture and the way it perceives the idea of opposition is revealed from a historical perspective. At the last part Kisakurek and Hikmet, who were the men of letters touching Turkish politics by their poems and proses, are analysed. Seeing similar processes of the two, who had in real completely different ideological backgrounds, the holistic structure of state mechanism against all kinds of differences is to be illustrated.