Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

44 islamic political identity in turkeygrated from the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the Balkans to settle in Anatolia andeastern Thrace. This inXux required the Ottoman state to provide some conceptthat would unite these newcomers, many of whom were non-Turks (Albanians,Bosnians, Circassians, Chechens, etc.) and spoke diVerent languages. The migrants,who had been expelled or forced to leave because of their religion, foundin Islam the source of their common bond with the people of Anatolia. The sultansought to strengthen this common bond and to replace the various group loyaltiesand identities with loyalty to and identiWcation with an Islamic state apparatus—namely,the institution of the caliphate. 21Only British-Russian rivalry kept the Ottoman Empire from being dismemberedtotally in 1878. The sultan recognized that he needed to forge strong politicalunity within the remaining empire if he were to preserve it. In the aftermathof the Treaty of Berlin and following the administrative occupation of Egypt bythe British in 1882, Sultan Abdülhamid II sought to integrate the remainingAnatolian, Arab, and Balkan regions of his state through a series of new administrative,economic, and cultural programs. 22 In particular, he tried to createamong his Muslim subjects a political consciousness and sense of unity basedon the twin pillars of state (devlet) and religion (din). However, in practice, religionwas subordinate and acted primarily as a shield for the preservation of thestate. Abdülhamid II pursued his eVorts to create a form of Islamic nationalismthrough numerous avenues; these included the centralization of authority, buildingschools, an emphasis on the role of Arabic culture in the empire, the creationof new communication and transportation channels such as the Hijazrailroad and telegraph lines, the provision of Wnancial support to select Arabicand Turkish newspapers, the retention of leaders of SuW orders as advisors, andinvestment in the protection and reconstruction of Mecca and Medina. Duringthis period the state’s profound social and political transformation was alsomanifested in the public debate over national identity, centered on three possiblesources of identity for citizens: Ottomanism, Islamism, and Turkism. 23Sultan Abdülhamid II also took steps to form connections with the widespreadnetworks of SuW orders and emphasized the pilgrimage to Mecca andMedina, as well as the caliph’s role as organizer of this important Muslim activity.24 He invited the 7eyhs of the prominent SuW orders to Istanbul and establisheda close relationship with the leaders of the 6azeli and Rufai orders, whobecame his advisors. He resumed use of the title “caliph” to show Muslimsaround the world that he served as guarantor of the Holy Places in Mecca,Medina, and Jerusalem. 25Since Abdülhamid II’s conception of an Ottoman political community requiredthe subordination of local identities and loyalties to an Islamic identity,he created a new ideology (Islamism) and state organization. He reactivated andfurther politicized traditional societal networks to form a national communalidentity. The main instrument he used to foster a common identity and feelingof loyalty to the state was the school system. 26 During his rule, 10,000 new semireligiouselementary (s1byan) schools opened, while the numbers of ibtidai (moresecular elementary) schools increased from 200 to 4,000, rü7tiye (mid-level highschools) from 250 to 600, idadi (middle schools) from 5 to 104, and teachers’