Erzurum, années 1950 : esnafs, nurcus et « démocrates » au service d’une mobilisation conservatrice

Abstract

This article looks into the history of the department of Erzurum in the 1950’s in an ethnographic way. It studies the social profile of Democratic Party grassroots activists (Demokrat Parti, DP) by paying particular attention to those who were elected in local branches. A study of the political speeches of an influential representative of the party, Rıfat Çakar, reveals that his positions were very close to those defended by supporters of political Islam. In fact, local Islamists students of Said Nursi joined the DP and won elected positions within the local apparatus. They were trying on the same time to assert their positions with the central committee in Ankara. Then why they did not choose to join a party that gave a clearer expression of their ideas like the Nation Party (Millet Partisi, MP) which was founded in 1948 by a split of the DP that brought together all the "hardliners" of the original party? This article also shows that mots of the local leaders of the DP were esnaf or shop owners, which made them dependent on the state and doomed it necessary for them to uphold the majority party.

Keywords

• conservatism
• Demokrat Parti
• Erzurum
• local politics
• grassroots politics
• Said Nursi