MESA Banner
The Political Geographies of Marking Violence: Reflections on Turkey's July 2016 Coup Attempt
Abstract
In the aftermath of the July 2016 coup attempt, markers of that night’s violence came to be memorialized in a variety of ways: bullet holes preserved, bomb-scarred roads placed under glass, personal items transformed into museum displays. Violence was also marked in other ways, including attempts to indemnify Fethullah Gülen’s movement and the designation of those injured on July 15 as ‘injured veterans’ (gazi). Yet as observers of Turkey are aware, there have been and continue to be many other kinds of slow violence that are often left unremarked, including indefinite detentions, court cases that drag on, passports confiscated, employment terminated. What can we learn from considering where, how, and why some forms of violence - but not others - became remarkable following the July 2016 coup attempt? To answer that question, I draw on fieldwork conducted in 2018 and 2019 and ongoing readings of the Turkish-language press to make three linked arguments. First, the commemorations of July 15 - and the acts of violence that these memorialize - helped to redraw the boundaries of the nation, drawing a sharp line between ‘heroes’ and ‘traitors,’ between those ‘betrayed’ and those who betray. Second, following how the violence of July 15 has been marked requires that we move beyond a focus on authoritarian leaders and instead consider the circuits and networks that constitute a specific memorial public. Finally, placing the events of July 15 in relation to longer and ongoing forms of slow violence opens up a broader discussion about the politics of memory operating not only in Turkey but around the world today.
Discipline
Geography
Geographic Area
Turkey
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries