The Korean War in Turkish Culture and Society

Description

This book explores the important role that the Korean War played in Turkish culture and society in the 1950s. Despite the fact that fewer than 15,000 Turkish soldiers served in Korea, this study shows that the Turkish public was exposed to the war in an unprecedented manner, considering the relatively small size of the country’s military contribution. It examines how the Turkish people understood the war and its causes, how propaganda was used to ‘sell’ the war to the public, and the impact of these messages on the Turkish public. Drawing on literary and visual sources, including archival documents, newspapers, protocols of parliamentary sessions, books, poems, plays, memoirs, cartoons and films, the book shows how the propaganda employed by the state and other influential civic groups in Turkey aimed to shape public opinion regarding the Korean War. It explores why this mattered to Turkish politicians, viewing this as instrumental in achieving the country’s admission to NATO, and why it mattered to Turkish people more widely, seeing instead a war in the name of universal ideas of freedom, humanity and justice, and comparing the Turkish case to other states that participated in the war. Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter Overview Current Research Turkey’s Road to the Korean War: Historical Background Turkish-American Relations Turkish Domestic Policy and the Transition to Democracy Sources A Note on Transliteration and Place Names Chapter 2: The War’s Reception The Political Opposition The Public Reaction The Legality of the Decision Parliamentary Discussions Persecuting the Opposition: The Case of the “Peace-Lovers Association” Volunteering for the Front Publicly Supporting the War86 Giving Back to the Soldiers: Philanthropic Activity Representing the War: State and Public Commemoration Reasons for Supporting the War Conclusion Chapter 3: Islam as a Spiritual Weapon? Religion in Public Discourse and the Turkish Military During the Korean War Public Islam in the Early Republic The Activities of the Diyanet Islamic Journals42 Islam in Uniform Conclusion Chapter 4: Literary Representations of War: The Korean War in Contemporary Turkish Literature The Pro-War Literature National and Religious Martyrs Imagining the Turkish Past in Korea Depicting the “Other” A Short Remark on the Role of Women in the War Objecting to the War “Fatma, Ali and the Others” Conclusion Chapter 5: Seeing War: The Visual Representations of the Korean War in Turkish Media The War in Photographs War as a Tourist Experience Scenes of Battle and Atrocity Propaganda Injured Soldiers and Wounded Civilians Patriotism and Sacrifice Passing the Time: Soldiers’ Leisure Activities The State’s Use of Visual Representation Illustrating the War: Turkish Political Cartoons Turkey and the Western Bloc The Enemy: China and the Soviet Union Conclusion Chapter 6: Soldiers’ Personal Narratives of War: The War in Memoirs Describing the Local Population Representing the American Allies Various Perceptions of the Enemy Uncertainty and the Fog of War Trivialization of Death Missing Home Thinking About the War: Pacifist Expressions Memoirs as Critical and Retrospective Narratives Conclusion Chapter 7: Conclusion: Remembering and Forgetting the War Bibliography I. Archival Sources II. Newspapers III. Published Primary Sources IV. Secondary Sources V. Internet Sites Index