THE PARADIGM OF REBUBLIC AND LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

Abstract

The aim of the study is to reveal the center-periphery dichotomy experienced in the process from the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye to the present day, the development processes of the concepts of republic-democracy within the scope of political history and the composition of the way they are implemented. To enlighten the reader by going into the historical background of the rupture in Türkiye. Comparative analyses were used as a method. For example, how the idea of the Republic was imposed especially after the First World War. As mentioned in the article, US President Wilson stated that those who entered the war on the side of Germany would only come to the table with a democratic government. In Türkiye, on the other hand, the transition to the Republic was not an imposition, but was led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his staff. In Türkiye, the Constitutional Revolutions served as a political laboratory for the idea of the Republic. In order to consolidate the thesis, the study utilized local and foreign sources. Since the establishment of the Republic, the reforms introduced by the Republican elites have brought about social opposition. The Republic defined equal citizenship through concepts such as popular sovereignty and the rule of law, but why was this ideo-political idea not embraced by the society at large? Why did the establishment of a nation-state under the name of Turkish national identity lead to the beginning of the problems? The answers to all these questions are explained causally in the article. The study concludes that the basis of today's social polarization is based on the center-periphery opposition during the Republican era. The fact that the top-down deconstruction revolution in Türkiye was adopted only by an elitist group and did not spread to the bottom constitutes the basis of the problems we are experiencing today. When the revolution in Türkiye is analyzed from a socio-pricological perspective, it will be seen that the periphery has not adapted itself to the system. Concepts such as the nation-state and national Turkish identity, which form the basis of the Turkish state, were also formed during this period, and therefore the source of the oppressed morale-motivation of the people who oppose the Turkish state in society was the events that took place during this period.