The Menemen Incident refers to a chain of incidents which occurred in Menemen

Menemen

Menemen is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey as well as the district's central town. The district extends on a fertile plain formed by the alluvial soil carried by the Gediz River...

, a small town in the Aegean region of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, on 23 December 1930. It is commemorated every year by the state and Turkish Army.

Rebellion

Following the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne

Treaty of Lausanne

The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...

 in 1920, the Republican People's Party

Republican People's Party (Turkey)

The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...

 of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 pursued a somewhat liberal policy towards Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, promoting secularism while not taking a hard line against Islamic institutions and practices, believing that the secularism of their ideology was already taking root. This confidence was shaken on 23 December 1930, when Dervish

Dervish

A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...

 Mehmed Efendi, a member of the Naqshbandi

Naqshbandi

Naqshbandi is one of the major Sufi spiritual orders of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a "Potent" order.The Naqshbandi order is over 1,300 years old, and is active today...

 order, created a disturbance by rallying a crowd against secular government and calling for the restoration of Islamic rule and the Caliphate

Caliphate

The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...

. A contingent of Turkish forces from the local garrison was sent to quell the demonstration and was initially overwhelmed by the crowd. The crowd then beheaded the leader of the contingent, Lieutenant Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay

Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay

Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay was a Turkish teacher and reserve warrant officer. He is considered a "martyr of revolution" in Turkey.-Biography:...

, and placed his severed head on a pole with a green flag before parading through town with it.

Reaction

The Republican government of Turkey was shocked by the grisly demonstration of religious fervor and by how readily it was embraced by Turkish locals so close to the nation’s capital, as it was completely antithetical to secularism. Furthermore, it demonstrated that secularism was taking hold neither as quickly nor as deeply as the government would have liked. This spurred the Republican government to action, as they began a more aggressive secularization policy in response to the Menemen incident. The government carried out this policy by attempting to nationalize Islam through performing the azaan, or call to prayer, in Turkish, as well as encouraging secularization in schools and translating the Quran into Turkish to have it read to the people on the radio and in the mosques. These attempts reflected a comprehensive effort by the Republican government to push back against Islamic influences and entrench nationalism more deeply in Turkish culture. These effects also reflected a larger attempt on the part of the Republican government to consolidate Turkish identity and promote nationalism to replace the last vestiges of nostalgia for the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire in the years following the break-up of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Greater Context

The Menemen incident marked the beginning of a harder line taken by the Republican government against Islamist and other dissident organizations, which were strictly regulated or crushed by Ataturk. Furthermore, it prompted the creation of a more coherent ideology known as Kemalism by the Republican government of Turkey at the third party Congress. Kemalism’s six principles included republicanism, nationalism, populism, statism, secularism and revolutionism. These six principles formed the core of the government’s attempt to establish an ideology that would replace religion with patriotism, and move from traditionalism towards modernity. The Menemen incident was a direct catalyst for the creation of the “Six Arrows” of Kemalist ideology, as it served as a warning to the government that their previous efforts at promoting nationalism were insufficient. It is thus one of the formative moments in the history of Turkish nationalism, and marked a major turning point in the efforts of Atatürk and the Republican regime in Ankara to foster nationalism within Turkey. It would also foreshadow the vehement secularism expounded by Turkish nationalists and the ideology of Kemalism.