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ABSTRACT
Despite Turkey’s changing political regimes, sports have remained under state governance since 1938. This article analyzes the ideologies, influences, and politics that have shaped this state monopoly over the sports system across three phases from the 1920s to the 1990s: establishment, stabilization, and instrumentalization. The establishment phase aimed to align sports with nation-building ideals, incorporating nationalist ideology and paramilitarism. The stabilization phase embraced a statist approach influenced by socio-economic conditions and Soviet influence. The instrumentalization phase, beginning with the Özal years, utilized sports for political discourse and socio-economic purposes, retaining the state-run system even during the era of neoliberalization.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Heinemann, Sport Clubs, 20–22, and Nafziger, “A Comparison.”
2 Groll, Hänsch, and Koopmann, Organisational Aspects of Sport, 7.
3 Heinemann, “Sport and the Welfare.”
4 Nafziger, “A Comparison.”
5 Pedersen and Thibault, Contemporary Sport Management, 276.
6 Nafziger, “A Comparison.”
7 Peppard and Riordan, Playing Politics, 113.
8 Erturan-Öğüt and İmamoğlu, “Almanya ve Türkiye’deki.”
9 Erturan-Öğüt, Amatör Spor Kulüplerinin, 34.
10 Mardin, “Center-Periphery Relations.”
11 Zürcher, “The Ottoman Legacy.”
12 Zürcher, The Young Turk Legacy, 146–7.
13 Akman, “Modernist Nationalism.”
14 Sayarı, “Interdisciplinary Approaches.”
15 Zürcher, The Young Turk Legacy, 249.
16 Kunter, Eski Türk Sporları Üzerine, 8, 45–6.
17 Yıldız, Çağlarboyu Türkler’de Spor, 629.
18 Yıldız, Türk Spor Tarihi, 286.
19 Kahraman, Osmanlı Devleti’nde Spor, 676–81.
20 Yıldız, Türk Spor Tarihi, 279–80.
21 Fişek, Devlet Politikası ve Toplumsal, 281–2, 294–6.
22 Tokatlıoğlu, “İki Dünya Savaşı Arasında,” 39–40.
23 Yıldıran and Şinoforoğlu, “Spor Tarihi II,” 29.
24 Kalaycıoğlu, “A Hundred Years.”
25 Tokatlıoğlu, “İki Dünya Savaşı Arasında,” 98.
26 Şinoforoğlu, “Erken Cumhuriyet,” 12.
27 Atabeyoğlu, Sporda Devlet mi?, 31.
28 “Sporcuların Partiye Kabul Töreni,” Tan, October 30, 1936.
29 “İzmir Dün Büyük Bayram,” Anadolu, October 30, 1936.
30 Atabeyoğlu, Sporda Devlet mi?, 29–30.
31 Fişek, 100 Soruda Türkiye Spor, 118–23.
32 For some examples of mutual visits, see “Boksörlerimiz Rusya’ya gittiler,” Milliyet, December 5, 1930; “Türk Sporcuların Sovyet Rusya’yı Ziyareti,” Milliyet, May 9, 1931; “Rus Sporcuları Türkiye’ye Geliyor,” Milliyet, August 25, 1931; “Dost Rus Sporcuları Dün Geldiler,” Milliyet, October 16, 1932; “Rusya Seyahatinden Aldığımız Dersler,” Milliyet, August 26, 1933; “Türk Sporcularının Moskova Seyyahati,” Milliyet, July 24, 1934; “Sovyet Sporcuları İzmirde,” Akşam, October 24, 1935; and “Sporcularımız Gittiler,” Akşam, September 15, 1936.
33 TBMM ZC. June 28, 1938, 486.
34 Ibid.
35 TBMM ZC. June 28, 1938, 487–9; “Beden Terbiyesi Kanunu,” July 16, 1938.
36 Tokatlıoğlu, “İki Dünya Savaşı,” 80.
37 Erturan Öğüt and Şinoforoğlu, “Gençlik, Spor.”
38 Akın, Gürbüz ve Yavuz Evlatlar, 142–7.
39 Ibid., 158–60.
40 “Kararname No: 13258.” April 17, 1940.
41 Ibid.
42 Fişek, Devlet Politikası ve Toplumsal, 310–11.
43 Ibid., 312–14.
44 Yıldıran and Şinoforoğlu, “Spor Tarihi II,” 22–9.
45 TMOK, Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi’nin, 26–7.
46 Ibid., 125.
47 Altuğ, Filiztekin, and Pamuk, “Sources of Long-Term Economic.”
48 Akın, Gürbüz ve Yavuz Evlatlar, 187–90.
49 Candan and Bağırgan, “Türk Ocaklarından Halkevlerine.”
50 Fişek, Devlet Politikası ve Toplumsal, 305–6. Fişek contends that Ülkü, the publication of the People’s Houses, had a similar prominence in advocating statism within sports, akin to Kadro’s role in advocating statism within the Turkish economy. Numerous articles by the intelligentsia in Ülkü advocated for sport participation within the People’s Houses. See Necip Ali, “Halkevleri”; İsmet Paşa, “Yeni Halkevlerini Açma Nutku”; “Ankara, Bolu, Balıkesir, Diyarıbekir, Isparta, Halkevleri Nasıl Çalışıyor?”; and Apak, “Türk Sporunun Yeni Yükümleri.”
51 Çelik and Bayrak, “Physical Education Course.”
52 Pamuk, “Political Economy.”
53 Yılmaz, “Democratization from Above.”
54 Kayaoğlu, “Strategic Imperatives.”
55 Worldometers, “Population of Turkey.” Worldometers. Accessed July, 15, 2023. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/turkey-population/.
56 Tınaz, “Turkish Sport.”
57 Abdullah Paşaoğlu, Personal Interview, June 2023.
58 Soysal, “Barış Gönüllüleri.”
59 Kamil Özer, Personal Interview, June 2023.
60 In 1971, 69 institutional sport clubs were established. See TASSK, “31 Aralık İtibariyle Sporcu ve Kulüp Sayıları Belirlendi.”.
61 İmamoğlu, Karaoğlu, and Erturan, “Türkiye’de Spor Kulüplerinin Yapısal.” Some clubs that were founded in this period still participate in the current leagues of many sports in Turkey. These include TPAO Batman Petrolspor (1960), Fatsa Belediyespor (1955) in the Football League 3; Türk Telekom (1954) and Urla Belediyesi (1962) in the basketball leagues; Gaziemir Belediyesi (1966) and THY (1979) in the volleyball leagues.
62 Based on the Parliamentary Almanacs, over 30 well-known figures leveraged their positions in the sports sector as a launching pad for their political careers in the 9th to16th government periods. See TBMM, TBMM Albümü (1920–2010).
63 Sayarı, “Interdisciplinary Approaches.”
64 Güneş-Ayata, “Roots and Trends.”
65 Erturan-Ogut and Sahin, “Political Clientelism.”
66 Atabeyoğlu, Sporda Devlet mi, 5.
67 Sarı, “Türkiye Rusya İlişkileri.”
68 Riordan, “Soviet Sport.”
69 Riordan, “The Role of Sport.”
70 Ibid.
71 “Tüm Bildiklerimi Öğretip Gideceğim,” Milliyet, December 18, 1987.
72 Riordan, “The Role of Sport.”
73 Girginov and Sandanski, “Understanding.”
74 Numerato, “The Institutionalisation.”
75 Mangra, Mangra, and Stanciu, “Romanian’s Sport.”
76 Földesi and Egressy “Post-Transformational Trends.”
77 Lüküslü, “Constructors and Constructed.”
78 Laçiner, “Turgut Özal Period.”
79 Çolak, “Ottomanism vs. Kemalism,” and Ongur, “Identifying Ottomanisms.”
80 Laçiner, “Turgut Özal Period.”
81 Whannel, Culture, Politics and Sport, 170.
82 Smith, “The Weight.”
83 32. Gün, “Naim Süleymanoğlu Türkiye’ye.”
84 TRT, “Kapıkule’nin Anahtarı.”
85 Laçiner, “Turgut Özal Period.”
86 32. Gün, “Özallı Yıllar Belgeseli.”
87 Lüküslü, “Constructors and Constructed.”
88 During the “Sports Role in the State Panel” organized by the Turkish Amateur Sports Clubs Confederation in 1989, prominent figures within the sports community emphasized the necessity of separating sport management from the state. For example, Yenal, the former general director of BTGM, emphasized the negative consequences of state involvement, including red-tape, political interference, and obstacles to the growth of grassroots sports clubs and independent sports federations. See Türkiye Spor Kulüpleri Konfederasyonu, Türkiye Olimpiyat Paneli, 93, 97.
89 Fişek, Devlet Politikası ve Toplumsal, 310.
90 Sayarı, Political Patronage, 103–13, and Güneş Ayata, “Roots and Trends.”
91 Güneş-Ayata, “Roots and Trends.”
92 Arıkan, “Türk Sporunda Anavatan Partisi.”
93 Türkiye Spor Kulüpleri Konfederasyonu, Türkiye Olimpiyat Paneli, 93, 97, 110, and GSGM, Spor Şurası Ön Komisyon, 56.
94 Erturan-Ogut, and Sahin, “Political Clientelism.”
95 Bora and Erdoğan, “Dur Tarih.”
96 Akşar, Endüstriyel Futbol, 162.
97 “Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu Kuruluş,” July 3, 1992.
98 Bora and Erdoğan, “Dur Tarih.”
99 Bora and Şenyuva, “Nationalism.”
100 Talimciler, “Futbol Değil İş.”
101 Hacısoftaoğlu, Akcan, and Bulgu, “Hayali Cemaatler Olarak Taraftar.”
102 Irak, “The Transformation.”
103 Irak, “Mediatisation.”
104 “İstanbul’da Olimpiyat Köyü Kuruyoruz.”
105 “2000 Yılında Olimpiyat.”
106 Grix, Sport Politics, 65; Coakley, “Ideology”; and Preuss, “Calculating.”
107 Beden Terbiyesi ve Spor, “Olimpiyat Hazırlıkları”. Sumerbank served as both a state-sponsored bank and a textile factory. It was established in 1933 to foster industrialization in the new republic.
108 In 1988, amateurism was highlighted as a concern in a TMOK publication titled “Olimpik Hareket” (Olympic Movement), acknowledging it as a challenge within Olympism. The publication clarified that receiving funds was permissible when sourced from the club, national federation, or TMOK. See TMOK. Olimpik Hareket, Hürriyet Gazetesi Matbaası, 1988, 76.
109 GSGM, Spor Şurası 1990, 44.
110 Uluç, “Panel Speech.”
111 Arıkan, “Sporda Özalizm.”
112 With $64.37 billion in 1982, according to World Bank data. See GDP (current US$) – Turkiye, Accesssed December 15, 2023. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=TR.
113 Arıkan, “Türk Sporunda Anavatan Partisi.”
114 Kalaycıoğlu, “A Hundred Years.”
115 Aslan, “Unarmed.”
116 See, for example, Erturan Öğüt, “Neoliberalizing Football”; Erturan Öğüt, “Türkiye’de Spor”; Irak, “Football in Turkey”; and Kalaycı, “The Network of Capitalist ‘Cronies’.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
E. Esra Erturan-Ogut
Dr. E. Esra Erturan-Ogut is a Professor of Sport Management and head of Exercise and Sport Science Department at Fenerbahçe University. She has held positions at Gazi University, Turkey (2002–2017) and the American University of the Middle East, Kuwait (2017–2021), and has engaged in scholarly visits abroad. She is the author of one book and nearly thirty journal articles and book chapters. Her research emphasizes sport management, sport and politics, and societal impacts of sports. Her work has been published in numerous journals, including Amme İdaresi Dergisi, European Sport Management Quarterly, and International. Journal of Sport Policy and Politics.
Tolga Şinoforoğlu
Dr. Tolga Şinoforoğlu works as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Sport Sciences at Kütahya Dumlupınar University, Turkey. He holds a PhD in history of sports. As an academic he participates in research projects and has been a visiting professor at the International Olympic Academy (IOA). His research areas are history of sports, Olympism and the Olympic movement, fair play, and ethics and morals in sports, on which he has published articles, books and book chapters.