Abstract:

This article deals with the official historiography process handled in Early Republican Period and the history studies called as "Turkish History Thesis". In this context, the article consists of two main sections. Primarily, the subjects about the resources, proposing and development processes of the Turkish History Thesis will be reviewed. Right after, the narrative of the thesis is going to be analyzed by the consideration of general characteristics of official historiography. Also a variety of examples about construction and shrining of Turkishness will be investigated. In the article, the aims wanted to be approach by historic narrative of the Turkish Historical Thesis (by the results of ideological, political and social) is more important than making a discussion about the scientific accuracy of historical narrative which manifested by the thesis. Consequently, the ideological qualification of historiography of the Early Republican Period and the political purposes aimed to be realized by this historiography process will constitute the center of gravity of the assessments. So indeed, this historiography project which supported by the administrative staff of the Republic is also become one of the basic components on the construction of the new nation state. Through the agency of the thesis, the founders, on the one hand tried to erase the memories about the Ottoman and Islamic identities, and on the other hand, wanted to establish a nationalist citizen consciousness using the shrining of the notion of Turkishness.

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