Sex and the Capital City: The Political Framing of Syphilis and Prostitution in Early Republican Ankara

Abstract

In its initial years, the nascent Turkish republic established the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance in order to promote public health. Beyond simply facilitating its modernizing agenda for the emergent nation-state as it sought to define itself against an Ottoman past, this institution was also geared toward remedying a self-defined population crisis by prioritizing and confronting particular diseases and health conditions. One of the maladies of utmost concern was syphilis. Based upon an analysis of official primary sources, this article engages with how the developing republic distinguished and consequently politically constructed-or framed-the syphilis problem from the vantage of its new forward capital, Ankara. Integral to this project of confronting this sexually transmitted disease, public health officials projected upon both this ailment and their understanding of the suitable means for its treatment their own views of what constituted appropriate sexual practices and relations. In doing so, certain subgroups of the population, especially prostitutes, were particularized as targets for surveillance and policing through regimes of licensing and compulsory medical examinations. Stemming from the state's framing of the disease-and its definition of appropriate sexual practices-this article also examines the subsequent legislative and public health education projects that followed.

‘Protecting the national body’: regulating the practice and the place of prostitution in early republican Turkey

“…For a survey of the histories of the republic see Zürcher (2004). This work on the political framing not only of prostitution but also of syphilis was preceded by associated studies based on the primary accounts of provincial medical officials Evered 2011a, 2012). Finally, on sociocultural dimensions of the early nation-state as it was enacted spatially, see Bozdogan (2001).…”

“…Since that time, additional trajectories of inquiry that include analysis of prostitution have become prominent: gendered geographies of development/underdevelopment and tourism, of urban and/or state regulation, of human rights and trafficking, and of health and HIV/AIDS (e.g., Askew 1998;Hubbard 1998aHubbard , 1998bHubbard , 1999Hubbard , 2000Hubbard , 2001Hubbard , 2004Hubbard et al 2008;Howell et al 2008;Wright 2004;Manzo 2005;Van Liempt 2011;Craddock 2000;Katsulis 2008). Framing our work in terms of critical studies while researching prostitution in early republican Turkey and the state's measures to define it as a medical problem and a legal matter, we were informed by recent historical geographies exploring regulationist approaches (Howell 2000a(Howell , 2000b(Howell , 2004(Howell , 2009Howell et al 2008;Legg 2010;Philips 2002) and our own research on the governmental and biopolitical dimensions of public health in the early republic (Evered and Evered 2011a, 2011b, 2012. Framing our work in terms of critical studies while researching prostitution in early republican Turkey and the state's measures to define it as a medical problem and a legal matter, we were informed by recent historical geographies exploring regulationist approaches (Howell 2000a(Howell , 2000b(Howell , 2004(Howell , 2009Howell et al 2008;Legg 2010;Philips 2002) and our own research on the governmental and biopolitical dimensions of public health in the early republic (Evered and Evered 2011a, 2011b, 2012.…”

“…Their works reveal both the range of individual recommendations for regulated prostitution as a key to confronting STDs and the profound influence state medical officials had upon legislation and governance (see also Evered 2011a, 2012). We were also guided by late Ottoman materials pertaining to syphilis and prostitution gathered from the Bas bakanlık Archive, Istanbul.…”

“…Under the practice of avrat oynatmak, similarly 'depraved' ongoing 'parties' were held by men who retained the services of a prostitute and also drank alcohol, played music, and watched her dance. Through the establishment of this brothel, his implementation of mandatory prenuptial examinations for both women and men, 16 the provision of health services at no charge, and the availability of modern treatment facilities, the provincial director declared that Ankara was as an emerging success story that should be emulated throughout the nation (Muslihiddin Safvet 1925, 55 -56, 68, 91 -92; see also Evered and Evered 2011a). The prostitutes and the customers involved in these practices were reportedly reluctant to seek examinations and treatment for syphilis for fear of the societal and legal repercussions (Hıfzı Nuri 1922, 41).…”

Medical and Social Aspects of Syphilis in the Balkans from the mid-19th Century to the Interwar

“…The sex workers who migrated to Ankara for new opportunities were not subject to medical examinations; thus, among the fi rst projects that the Ministry of Health undertook was the campaign against syphilis and the introduction of relevant laws, such as the "Public Health Law" and the "Law for the Prevention and Containment of Syphilis". [13][14]…”