Türkı̇ye'nı̇n yahudı̇ mı̇rasını yenı̇den sahnelemek: Mı̇marı̇ koruma ve hafıza polı̇tı̇kaları

This research deals with the politics of memory in the context of Turkey's Jewish architectural heritage, focusing on the histories and restoration processes of three Turkish synagogues. Ahrida and Mayor synagogues in Istanbul, and the Great Synagogue in Edirne were left idle when their neighbourhoods were abandoned by Jews during the last three quarters of the 20th century. However, in the post 1980's - after several decades of abandonment, indifference and decay- they were selected among numerous ruined synagogues in Turkey, to be the showcases of the country's Jewish past. Having been 'sites of memory' numerous times in their agelong lifetimes, they were transformed into sites of memory once more by restoration projects -under the forces of national and international politics, heritage industry and tourism, European Capital of Culture program, and others. This research comparatively dwells on different historical moments when the buildings became tools to rearticulate the past; and investigates their –planned or realized- restorations in the post 1980s with a critical approach. -Firstly, the research leans on a conception of identity and memory as "constructions". It claims that the official recovery of the past in the city is always an issue of negotiation, as the past is never a concrete reality but a reconstruction, always subjective and varied. It discusses how the mentioned buildings were discursive tools for the reconstruction of the past, and explores how Turkish-Jewish identity and memory were rearticulated and debated around them. -Secondly, this research investigates the relationship between power and the construction of identity and memory; claiming that the representation of ethnic identity in urban space is bound with political power. Although the mentioned restorations were widely conceived as "counter-memory" against previous exclusive histories, the research argues, they still took place within the frameworks of dominant voices. -Thirdly, this research is based on a conceptual difference between 'history' and 'memory': defining memory as a playground of multiple remembrances and experiences; and history, as official and frozen narratives about the past. It considers restoration as an act of creating fixed representations of the past according to contemporary interests; and thus as a form of 'history writing'. Accordingly, it dwells on the gap between official meanings associated with the synagogues in question, and the way the buildings were cherished by their past or current users. It explores the relations between collective and individual memories; between economies of power and the multiplicity of ordinary experiences. xx Thereby, the research aspires to give a broader understanding on the complex relations between identity, memory, politics, power and architecture in the context of Turkey's Jewry as well as in general.