A Democratic and Conservative Opponent: Hüseyı̇n Avnı̇ Ulaş

Abstract

Although the foundations of political modernization efforts in the history of Turkey were laid with the Tanzimat and Constitutional Monarchy, the First Parliament, which was established on April 23, 1920, was an important milestone on the road to the republic. In terms of political modernization efforts, the debates that emerged in the First Assembly continued to have an impact in the republican period, and the relations between the government and the opposition and the opposition within the government continued in the single party period.  At this point, Hüseyin Avni Ulaş was one of the rare personalities who was active on the opposition front for a long time and maintained his line for a long time. Hüseyin Avni Ulaş, known as a politician who served as a deputy in the Ottoman Mebusan Assembly and the First Assembly and who opposed the existing political authority on many issues, especially during the single-party period, is one of the colorful figures of Turkish political life in terms of the meaning he attributed to the concept of sovereignty-i nationaliye. On the other hand, Hüseyin Avni Ulaş was a member of the TPCF, was one of the founders of the National Development Party, which was established at the beginning of Turkey's transition to multi-party life, and wrote harsh articles criticizing the single-party government in various publications. The publication “Mesuliyet” was published by him. Ulaş was called “the first democrat of the Republic”, “liberal”, “developmentalist”, and “conservative” politician by various writers. In addition to these, being a strict opponent of the regime and being mentioned in the “Islamist Anatolianism” compartment of the Anatolianism movement are noteworthy determinations in terms of expressing Hüseyin Avni Ulaş's political and intellectual line. In this study, it has been investigated in which lane Hüseyin Avni Ulaş should be evaluated politically and intellectually.

Keywords: Hüseyin Avni Ulaş, Anatolianism, Islamist Anatolianism, Democracy, Conservatism.