ABSTRACT
The history of modern Turkey The history of modernisation in Turkey extends back to the institutionalised reforms of the Late Ottoman period. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, reformers who aimed at modernisation through the Westernisation of the country made dramatic reforms to accomplish the process (Keyder 1997): the alphabet changed from Arabic to Latin, the calendar was adapted to the Gregorian calendar, the official day of rest changed to Sunday from Friday (the sacred day of Muslims), Evkaf (the umbrella organisation that oversees the running of all religious foundations in the Ottoman Empire) was taken over by the state, and religious education was regulated and patronised by the state (Lewis 1952). The modernity project included a rational organisation of the state, bureaucratisation and organisational efficiency, as well as a social transformation including social, cultural and educational projects that aimed to bring forth modern citizens and modern gender identities based on secularisation (Keyder 1997).
