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Article Citation - WoS: 2Citation - Scopus: 5The Making of a gecekondulu Identity: Journalistic Representations of the Squatters in Turkey in the 1970s(Sage Publications inc, 2014) Avci, OzgurWhile many studies have undertaken analyses of the socioeconomic and political problems resulting from rural-urban migration in developing nations, few have examined the symbolic challenges presented by this shift. Examining news reports on the most sensational instance of slum demolitions in Turkey that took place in 1977, this study argues that urban squatting and slum dwelling created vital problems of cultural representation. In spite of huge ideological differences among various newspapers, there was a surprising level of consistency in the portrayal of the squatters as a dubious group, devoid of ideological commitment, and a serious threat to society. Such a portrayal of the urban poor as nonideological actors has been dominant worldwide, which overlooks the powerful symbolic challenge that the very existence of this group poses to idealized projects of social change, and hence the potential that their despised (non)identity offers for the development of a more democratic political vision.Article Citation - WoS: 2Wonderland Eurasia: Theme Parks and Neo-Ottoman Identity Politics in Ankara, Turkey(Univ Newcastle, 2020) Tunc, Tanfer Emin; Tunc, GokhanWith an area of 1.3 km(2) or 320 acres, Wonderland Eurasia, which is located in Ankara, Turkey, has been advertised as the largest theme park in Europe and Asia. Almost a decade in the making, it was completed in 2019 at a cost of approximately $250 to $350 million USD (1.5 to 2 billion Turkish Lira) and is seen by supporters as having the potential to boost the sagging tourism industry. This study, which is based on a July 2019 site visit to the theme park, will illustrate, however, that Wonderland Eurasia is much more complicated than appearances suggest. The authors argue that by deploying the imperial glory of the Ottoman Empire, the park constructs an artificial narrative of continuity that connects the past (through Seljuk and even prehistoric themes), to the present, and future (through robotic themes). This is not only meant to symbolically reinforce Turkey's position as a regional 'wonderland'-a social, economic, and cultural powerhouse with grand foreign policy aspirations-but in the process, is also designed to promote a neoliberal Neo-Ottomanism that involves an identity politics of historical elision and selective erasure. Tanfer Emin Tunc is a Professor in the Department of American Culture and Literature at Hacettepe University in Ankara. Gokhan Tunc is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. Of Civil Engineering at the Atilim University in Ankara.
