Perceptions of the Arabs among Turkish Intellectuals of the Late 20th Century: National Self, Ethnic Other, and the Question of Islam

• Applicant: Dr. Benedikt Römer
• Subject Area: Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 567026138

Anti-Arab sentiment is a widespread phenomenon in contemporary Turkey and has manifested itself several times in violent riots against the property of Syrian refugees and the public harassment of Arabic-speakers. In explaining the current flare-up of anti-Arabism in Turkey, scholars have often assumed a continuity of hostilities from the late Ottoman period to the present. However, given the absence of relevant scholarship, we know very little about how perceptions of the Arabs evolved in Turkey during the 20th century. This project studies a large body of Turkish-language sources from the second half of the 20th century to close this gap in research. It draws upon travel literature, historiographical writings, political commentaries, and personal memoirs by Turkish intellectuals who, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, showed an immense interest in developments in the Arab world. More specifically, the project sheds light on two research questions. Firstly, the project is interested in the role of Islam as a potentially connecting factor between Turks and Arabs. It analyses sources from different political camps and investigates whether differing visions of Islam correlated, positively or negatively, with portrayals of the Arabs. Secondly, the project analyses how references to the shared Ottoman past of Turks and Arabs informed the perceptions of the Arabs among Turkish intellectuals in the late 20th century. While the existing literature overwhelmingly emphasises the negative impact of the conflict-stricken late Ottoman era, the Ottoman past also served as a paradigm of coexistence and cooperation in the making of later foreign policies between Turkey and different Arab states. Finally, the project seeks to revisit the conceptual tools used in the existing literature to frame portrayals of the Arabs in modern Turkey, aiming to arrive at a more nuanced analytical perspective. Overall, the project aims to provide contributions in the fields of modern Turkish intellectual history, the study of Turkish-Arab relations, and, on a more general level, the study of the “other” and of racial prejudice in a non-Western context.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professor Dr. Laurent Mignon