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We have three main kemalist reforms :
- 1924 : suppression of the Califate
- 1925 : interdiction to wear the "fes" for men (and encouragement to drop the veil for women)
- 1928 : adoption of the latin alphabet.
I begin with the last one. Here is what Taner Akcam says about adopting the latin alphabet :
"...Finally, there is a psychological factor compounding the difficulty of an honest historical reckoning in Turkey. In general, Turkish society is disinclined to consider its past. In the prevailing culture, not only the Armenian genocide but much of Turkey's recent history is consigned to silence, the Kurdish question and the role of the military being two examples. The Alphabet Reform of 1928, which changed Turkish script from Arabic to Latin letters, served to compound the problem. With the stroke of a pen, the Turkish people lost their connection to written history. Turkey is a society that cannot read its own newspapers, letters and diaries if they were written before 1928. It has no access to anything that happenned prior to that date. As a result, modern Turkey is totally dependent on history as the state has defined and written it. Of course, the state has a stake in how history is represented, certainly when that history touches on its very legitimacy. In this light, it becomes clear why Turkish society has consigned the Armenian genocide to oblivion."
A Shameful Act, Taner Akcam, New York, 2006 (Preface, p.11)
Translation French > English : http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en
Nil (Paris)
- 1924 : suppression of the Califate
- 1925 : interdiction to wear the "fes" for men (and encouragement to drop the veil for women)
- 1928 : adoption of the latin alphabet.
I begin with the last one. Here is what Taner Akcam says about adopting the latin alphabet :
"...Finally, there is a psychological factor compounding the difficulty of an honest historical reckoning in Turkey. In general, Turkish society is disinclined to consider its past. In the prevailing culture, not only the Armenian genocide but much of Turkey's recent history is consigned to silence, the Kurdish question and the role of the military being two examples. The Alphabet Reform of 1928, which changed Turkish script from Arabic to Latin letters, served to compound the problem. With the stroke of a pen, the Turkish people lost their connection to written history. Turkey is a society that cannot read its own newspapers, letters and diaries if they were written before 1928. It has no access to anything that happenned prior to that date. As a result, modern Turkey is totally dependent on history as the state has defined and written it. Of course, the state has a stake in how history is represented, certainly when that history touches on its very legitimacy. In this light, it becomes clear why Turkish society has consigned the Armenian genocide to oblivion."
A Shameful Act, Taner Akcam, New York, 2006 (Preface, p.11)
Translation French > English : http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en
Nil (Paris)
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