Department of International Relations2024-11-0920201944-895310.1080/19448953.2020.17992982-s2.0-85088958298http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2020.1799298https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/13254This contribution identifies four Turkish attitudes towards Europe from the late nineteenth century onwards:self-identificationwith Europe,fearof Europe,superiorityover Europe and becominglocal/nationalwhich implies a rejection of Europe. It then links these four attitudes to four types of forgetting the Ottoman past. The main argument is that the peculiar rise of neo-Ottomanism in Turkey today is evidence of a conservative trauma that follows the fourth type of forgetting-a painful and permanent trauma where the conservative cannot achieve closure with the past. The current Turkish government's use of neo-Ottomanism utilizes the superiority over Europe and becoming local/national attitudes especially and attempts to maintain an anachronistic identity as the conservatives in Turkey fail to achieve closure with the Ottoman past.Area StudiesJournal Article1944-8961555220800001Q26933