Turkey makes its own car: automotive ventures and the cars of the revolution

Kurtgözü A. E.

TURKISH STUDIES, cilt.24, sa.2, ss.278-308, 2023 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 24 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/14683849.2022.2116317
  • Dergi Adı: TURKISH STUDIES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.278-308
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Automotive industry, design history, materiality, mythology, national identity, propaganda
  • TED Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This paper focuses on the history of Turkey's efforts to establish a national automotive industry, which culminated in a state-driven project to build a Turkish automobile, the Devrim (Revolution), in 1961. The outcome of the project was three prototypes unveiled in Republic Day ceremonies, but quickly left in oblivion afterwards. This paper investigates the possible causes of the termination of the project, arguing that building a Turkish car had great symbolic significance for the identity of a nation in the quest for modernization and Westernization. The project was difficult to sustain considering the vexed political and ideological motivations invested in it.