Pilgrimage From Türkiye In The Period 1923-1960: Policy, Organization And Perception

Abstract

The general situation of pilgrimage in Türkiye between 1923 and 1960, the decision to allocate foreign currency to pilgrims after the transition to multi-party rule, its reflections in the press and parliament, and the difficulties faced by pilgrim candidates due to the lack of a general state organization for pilgrimage until 1953-1954 constitute the main scope of this study. In 1945, with the transition to multi-party life, the process of transforming the pilgrimage worship, which had been interrupted for various reasons until this period, into an organized state service with the effect that aspiring to power necessitated competition and addressing the demands of the people, and this was reflected in the political discourses and promises of the parties, is among the main topics of this study. While trying to evaluate the process, it is tried to emphasize that the organization of pilgrimage by the state could vary depending on many situations such as political, economic, commercial, international relations and epidemics. In this sense, it is tried to point out that both problematic areas such as the security of the pilgrimage routes left by the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and new national and international balances constitute obstacles to an organized pilgrimage. When the ideological approaches, economic conditions and epidemics of the period of establishment and institutionalization were added to these obstacles, it was not possible to organize pilgrimage in Türkiye for a long period of time. In addition, in this period, it was observed that the pilgrimage was generally individualized due to reasons such as the absence of a state organization for pilgrimage and the lack of interest in collective practices such as seeing off or welcoming pilgrim candidates. In this sense, pilgrimage in Türkiye was performed for a long time through individual means and often illegally. However, it should also be noted that there was no official ban on pilgrimage during the Republican era, including the single-party years.

After the transition to multi-party life, with the effect of the policy change after the transition to multi-party life, hajj worship also received its share of the decisions taken to relax the religious sphere. Due to the electoral promises of the Democrat Party (DP) to expand the Islamic sphere, which had been narrowed by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) era secularism practices, and the impact this had on the masses, the current ruling CHP did not want to leave the possible political benefits of this to the DP and signed various decisions and practices for an organized pilgrimage, including the decision to allocate foreign currency to those going on pilgrimage. In 1950, with the change of government, the scope of these decisions and practices was expanded and the following process gradually transformed hajj into an organization under state control.

Since the Republican period of the historical process of the pilgrimage has not yet been written in real terms, the literature on the field is quite insufficient. Therefore, this study is based on primary sources such as the Republican and Ottoman archives of the Presidency of State Archives, the Turkish Diplomatic Archives of the Presidency of Foreign Affairs, the press of the period, and parliamentary minutes. It is aimed that this study will provide sources and ideas for future pilgrimage studies in the Republican period.