In the Land of Free People A Turkish Liberal Utopia between the State and the Individual

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Savas s. Barkcin

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Abstract

Presented here is an analysis of the political thought of Ahmet Agaoglu,
one of the sounding boards of Mwtafa Kemal Atatiirk. In his utopian
work “In the Land of Free People,’’ he is preoccupied with the idea of
making Turkey a “progressive” state so that it can attain the standard
achieved by Western civilization. How it is done does not matter, as
long as the country is put on the path of “liberalism,” which to him is
the shortcut to development. The liberalism suggested by Agaogu is
not via privileging individual rights through popular will (as in the
West), but through manipulation by the state; even if it must be
achieved through despotic practices.

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