Paper short abstract:

In the 1930s the Turkish government established museums as part of its political agenda to build a secular national identity. This paper examines the ways in which the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara has become, through its collections, an integral part of the city's collective memory.

Paper long abstract:

With the establishment of the Turkish republic in 1923, history and archaeology became the tools to redefine a secular Turkish identity. Following examples in Europe, the government inaugurated a national archaeology campaign and established museums in the 1930s. One of the prime examples of this movement was the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. Linking contemporary Turkish identity with the earliest civilizations in the Anatolian peninsula, such as the Hittites, this museum functioned as part of a larger agenda to prevent the Islamic element from dominating the Turkish identity, which was seen obstacle to progress and Westernization. In so doing, the republic attempted to "colonize" its Ottoman past, reducing it merely into another phase in its "timeless" existence.

By examining the ways in which both post-imperial and national narratives were spatially registered in this Museum, this paper explores its public perception in the contemporary. It argues that whilst the national agenda "failed" in the long run to replace the Islamic element with a secular, essentialist historical narrative, one of the ancient relics exhibited in the Museum became a powerful urban symbol embraced by the secular camp of the political left and an integral part of the city's collective memory. More specifically, by focusing on the last 20 years of municipal politics in Turkey's capital, the paper examines the role that the Museum has played, through its narrative and collections, in the ongoing political battle to choose an official symbol for the city.