{"title":"Turkey makes its own car: automotive ventures and the cars of the revolution","authors":"A. Kurtgözü","doi":"10.1080/14683849.2022.2116317","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the history of Turkey’s efforts to establish a national automotive industry, which culminated in a state-driven project to build a Turkish automobile, the Devrim (Revolution), in 1961. The outcome of the project was three prototypes unveiled in Republic Day ceremonies, but quickly left in oblivion afterwards. This paper investigates the possible causes of the termination of the project, arguing that building a Turkish car had great symbolic significance for the identity of a nation in the quest for modernization and Westernization. The project was difficult to sustain considering the vexed political and ideological motivations invested in it.","PeriodicalId":47071,"journal":{"name":"Turkish Studies","volume":"11 1","pages":"278 - 308"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Turkish Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2022.2116317","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the history of Turkey’s efforts to establish a national automotive industry, which culminated in a state-driven project to build a Turkish automobile, the Devrim (Revolution), in 1961. The outcome of the project was three prototypes unveiled in Republic Day ceremonies, but quickly left in oblivion afterwards. This paper investigates the possible causes of the termination of the project, arguing that building a Turkish car had great symbolic significance for the identity of a nation in the quest for modernization and Westernization. The project was difficult to sustain considering the vexed political and ideological motivations invested in it.
期刊介绍:
Turkey is a country whose importance is rapidly growing in international affairs. A rapidly developing democratic state with a strong economy, complex society, active party system, and powerful armed forces, Turkey is playing an increasingly critical role in Europe, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. Given Turkey"s significance and the great interest in studying its history, politics, and foreign policy, Turkish Studies presents a forum for scholarly discussion on these topics and more.