Curating a Nation: The Interplay of Museums and Muslim Nationalism in Modern Turkey

Over the past two decades, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has held power in Turkey through five different governments, with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the helm throughout. This AKP has brought about significant changes for both the Turkish State and society, including the emergence of a new national ideology that Jenny White epitomized Muslim Nationalism. Muslim Nationalism in its Turkish specificity brought forth a new Turkey and “new Turks”, with state-sponsored institutions playing a key role, largely driven by top-down efforts to build a cohesive national identity. Museums have played a significant role in the process of nation-building with many new institutions featuring stories of sultans, Islamic scientists, and Ottoman warriors while neglecting other equally important symbols and heritages of Turkey, such as the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine heritages. These museums are important state-sponsored rituals that promote the vision of the "new Turkey" envisioned by the ruling class. This study focuses on four museums: the Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam, the Panorama Museum 1453, the Kabatepe Simulation Centre and Museum, and the newly renovated Topkapı Museum. By examining the connections between these museums, we can gain a better understanding of how this ideology is exhibited and perpetuated through cultural institutions, and what image of Turkey and Turks emerges from them.