ABSTRACT

The birth of conspiracy theories relating to Jews and Freemasons can be dated to the early twentieth century, exacerbated by Zionist demands to settle in the then Ottoman territory of Palestine, and by the existence of the community of Donme. This chapter explains the origins and fantasies of Turkish nationalism undergoing an imperial collapse. Sultan Abdulhamid II not only ruled the empire with an iron fist, but also introduced a pervasive culture of conspiracy. Suspecting subversion at every instance, he designed a surveillance state obsessed with collecting information from spies within the empire and by embassies abroad, further feeding his paranoia. The post-First World War invasion of Turkey and Istanbul following the Ottoman defeat was perceived as the darkest hour of Turkish history. For the Turkish secular-nationalist conspiratorial universe, as proven impeccably by the Treaty of Lausanne, the national idea is robustly and inextricably ingrained within the very self of Ataturk.