"On May 31, 2010, Israeli Defense Forces raided the ship Mavi Marmara, part of a six-vessel flotilla aiming to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and to deliver supplies to Gaza. Using comments posted on Turkish online discussion forums in the aftermath of the raid that resulted in the death of nine passengers, this article analyzes how the incident was appropriated to negotiate between Turkishness and Islam as two alternative, yet coinciding forms of collective identity. Particularly, the article will compare different discursive strategies that were utilized in “general-interest” and “Islamic-leaning” online discussion groups. A deductive thematic analysis of 585 posts in general-interest and Islamic-leaning forums found significant differences in how metaphors of the body—blood, sacrifice, and martyrdom—as well as in-group/out-group comparisons were used in order to support a territorial-based nationalism versus a religion-based identity. The analysis also discusses the rhetoric that enabled discussants in general-interest forums to negotiate the tensions between the two collective identities."

Identity-building processes require exclusiveness, besides the categories of belonging, which paint the profile of the self- Turkishness and Islam in the case of Turkey-, an equally important role is reserved to the categories of alterity- respectively to the non-Muslim and non-Turkish elements. Othering is a necessary precondition for asserting exclusive Turkishness, while the fear of division and the traumatic memory of the Treaty of Sèvres ensure the exclusion of minorities from the identity sphere and nurture paranoia. In this climate of distrust those who express or display their belonging to other groups than the Turkish-Muslim or stand for minority rights and tolerance are labelled as bölücü (separatists), whether we talk about groups that resort to violence like the PKK, or non-violent human rights activists. When discussing both about the effects and historical roots of the Sèvres syndrome, foreign politics, and subjects like Turkey’s euroscepticism, in close relation with minority rights and policies are primarily considered. Without neglecting this issues, the paper focuses on the identity dimension of the Sèvres syndrome, highlighting the way it has contributed to defining and building Turkishness by distinguishing it from the doubtful Otherness, arguing, in the meantime, that even though the so-called disease has exceeded its historical boundaries and threats, it is still alive in the collective consciousness triggering fear and suspicion in relation with the others and preserving the exclusive definition of Turkish identity.

Demir I. 2014. Humbling Turkishness: Undoing the Strategies of Exclusion and Inclusion of Turkish Modernity. Journal of Historical Sociology. 27(3), pp. 381-401 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/johs.12054 Kurds make up about a fifth of Turkey's population. Turkey has taken steps – albeit slowly and reluctantly – towards increased recognition of Kurdish cultural and linguistic rights. However, within Turkey there is also a steeply rising tide of Turkish nationalism, prejudice and intolerance towards Kurds, and increasing anti‐Kurdish sentiment. This article brings studies of Kurdishness and Turkishness into a single conversation and traces the relationship between Turkish modernity, Orientalized Kurdishness and the construction of Turkishness as the efendi (master) identity. It does this by drawing attention to “strategies of exclusion and inclusion” in the construction of official Turkish history, and relates these to the way in which the tense borders between Kurds and Turks are maintained and currently reproduced. It also presents a normative argument in favour of “humbling Turkishness” and “solidarity trading zones”.

Keywords: Cyprus Problem, Counterfeit Product, Turkey, Immigration, Integration