In this important new study Dr. Özlem Belçim Galip addresses the so-called “Armenian Question” and its place in the struggle between civil society and the state in contemporary Turkey. The introduction guides the reader through the central themes and concepts, and the following chapters traverse the history of Armenians from the late Ottoman Genocide to 2002, when the Justice & Development Party (AKP) took power, and the eventual disappointments of Erdogan’s “New Turkey”.
The long fourth chapter is the study’s unique strength: an interview-led account of the “new social movements”—a term which refers both generally to the post-Marxist social movements which emerged after 1968, and specifically to these in contemporary Turkey. Key moments are the assassination of Hrant Dink and the massive civil society mobilisation in its wake, the Gezi Park uprising, and the emergence of self-identifying Muslim and Alevi Armenians in a relative opening of society. Most poignantly, many of the interviewees are now in exile or imprisoned.
Concluding remarks explore the ramifications, asserting the centrality of the Armenian Question for any meaningful transformation of Turkish civil society, and so the Turkish state’s democratisation. Overall, utilising both a wide-ranging literature and firsthand interviews, the result is a landmark book on the latest iteration of the Turkish Republic’s foundational question.
Review by Nicholas S.M. Matheou
Originally written for Zanazan Magazine Issue 2