Wikipedia

Turkish nationalism

Turkish nationalism(Turkish:Türk milliyetçiliği) is nationalism among the people ofTurkeyand individuals whose national identity isTurkish.Turkish nationalism consists of political and social movements and sentiments prompted by a love forTurkish culture,Turkish languageandhistory,and a sense of pride in Turkey and Turkish people. While national consciousness in Turkish nation can be traced back centuries, nationalism has been a predominant determinant of Turkish attitudes mainly since the 20th century. Modern Turkish nationalism rose during theTanzimat era.It also has a complicated relationship withMuslim identity,Pan-Turkism,andTuranism.

Theflag of Turkey
Nationalistic personification of theLiberation of İzmir of 1922

History

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An illustration depictingAtatürk's reforms.From right to left: The victory over theGreek invasion,theabandonmentof thefez,the closure of thesectarian lodges,the adoption of the newTurkish Alpha bet,the adoption of theTurkish civil code.
A 5-lira banknote from theAtatürkera inTurkey.[1][2]Thegrey wolfis a symbol of Turkish nationalism, as well as ofPan-Turkism.[3]
See also:Pan-Turkism § History

After thefallof theOttoman Empire,Mustafa Kemal Atatürkcame to power. He introduced alanguage reformwith the aim to "cleanse" the Turkish language of foreign (mostly Arabic and Persian) influence.[4]He also promoted theTurkish History Thesisin Turkish political and educational circles from 1930s. Turkish researchers at the time likeHüseyin Cahit YalçınandRıfat Osman Beyalso came up with the idea that EarlySumerianswere proto-Turks.[5]

The early Turkish nationalists were typicallysecularand often influenced byZiya Gökalp(1876–1924).[6]Gökalp aimed for theTurkificationof Islam; that theQuranshould be translated from Arabic into Turkish, and that theadhanshould be recited in Turkish instead of Arabic from theMinarets.[6]During the early years of the republic, religious traditions were not important and Turkish nationalists were much more open to the westernization of the Turkish society.[6]

Variants

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Mehmet Emin Yurdakul,Turkish nationalist writer and politician; his writings and poems had a major impact on defining the termvatan( "Homeland" or "Motherland" ).
Ziya Gökalp,ideologue of Turkish nationalism and later member ofMustafa Kemal'sGrand National Assembly

Ideologies associated with Turkish nationalism includePan-TurkismorTuranism(a form of ethnic or racial essentialism ornational mysticism),Turkish-Islamic synthesis(which combines Turkish nationalism with Islamic identity), Anatolianism (which considers the Turkish nation as a separate entity which developed after theSeljukconquest ofAnatoliain the 11th century), andsecular,civic nationalistKemalism(which defines the "Turks"as thenational identityof the people ofTurkey).[7]The term "ultranationalism"is often used to describe Turkish nationalism.[8]

Kemalism or Turkish state nationalism

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Main article:Kemalism
See also:Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's cult of personality

Implemented byAtatürk,the founding ideology of theRepublic of Turkeyfeatures nationalism (Turkish:milliyetçilik) as one of its six principles. Following theproclamation of the republicin 1923, the Kemalism or "Turkishstate nationalism"[9]became the official state ideology and the guiding principle behind the widespread socio-political reforms.[9]

The Kemalist revolution aimed to create anation statefrom the remnants of the multi-religious and multi-ethnicOttoman Empire.Kemalist nationalism originates from thesocial contracttheories, especially from thecivic nationalistprinciples advocated byJean-Jacques Rousseauand hisSocial Contract.The Kemalist perception of social contract was effected by thedissolution of the Ottoman Empirewhich was perceived as a product of failure of the Ottoman "Millet"system and the ineffectiveOttomanismpolicy. Kemalist nationalism, after experiencing the Ottoman Empire's breakdown, defined the social contract as its "highest ideal".[citation needed]

In the 1930s Kemalism became an all-encompassingstate ideologybased on Atatürk's sayings and writings. The Kemalist definition of nationality was integrated toArticle 66of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey. Legally, every citizen is defined as a Turk, regardless ofethnicityor religion.Turkish nationality lawstates that he or she can be deprived of his/her nationality only through an act of treason.[10]

Kemalist nationalism believes in the principle that the Turkish state is an indivisible whole comprising its territory and people, which is defined as the "unity of the state".

Pan-Turkism

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Main article:Pan-Turkism

"Turanist" nationalism began with theTuranian Societyfounded in 1839, followed in 1908 with the Turkish Society, which later became theTurkish Hearths[11]and eventually expanded to include ideologies such asPan-TuranismandPan-Turkism.

Pan-Turkism (Turkish:Türkçülük or Pan-Türkizm), as he stated in his bookPrinciples of Turkism,was also a part ofZiya Gökalp's nationalist view which he called "Turkism", as an ideal of the unity ofTurkic peoples.[12]

TheYoung Turk Revolutionwhich overthrew SultanAbdul Hamid II,brought Turkish nationalists to power in theOttoman Empire,eventually leading to theThree Pashas' control of the late Ottoman government.[13][14]

Anatolianism

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Anatolianism (Turkish:Anadoluculuk) takes as its starting point that the main source ofTurkish cultureshould beAnatolia(Anadolu), and the main base of this thought is that theTurkish peoplehad built a new civilization in Anatolia after 1071 when they won at theBattle of Manzikert.[citation needed]

In the early Republican era, some intellectuals likeHilmi Ziya Ülken,[15]Mehmet Râif Ogan[16]and Nurettin Topçu[17]proposed that the origins of the Turkish nationalism should be sought in Anatolia, not in "Turan".[18]

Hilmi Ziya Ülken, one of the founders of Anatolianism, was opposed toNeo-OttomanismandPan-Islamism,as well as to Turanism. In 1919, Ülken wrote a book titledAnadolunun Bugünki Vazifeleri(Present Duties of Anatolia), but it was not published. Ülken and friends published the periodicalAnadolu.They worked to form an alternative philosophy to Ottomanism, Islamism and Turanism.

Turkish-Islamic nationalism

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Main article:Turkish-Islamic nationalism
TheNationalist Movement Partyis afar-rightparty in theGrand National Assembly of Turkey.

Turkish-Islamic nationalism, also known as the Turkish-Islamic synthesis (Turkish:Türk-İslam sentezi) is afar-rightIslamic-conservative ideology that combines Turkish nationalism andIslam.

The term was coined in 1972 by the conservative historianİbrahim Kafesoğlu,who traced the Turkish-Islamic synthesis back to the first Muslim Turkic dynasty, theKarakhanids,in the 11th century. Kafesoğlu viewed the contact between the ancient steppe culture of the Turks and Islam as a process of refinement. The "synthesis" was represented in the 1970s in the intellectual clubAydınlar Ocağı(Turkish:Intellectuals' Hearth) of which cofounder was Kafesoğlu.[19]Representatives of the intellectual club explicitly formulated their thoughts and in particular their understanding of history in 1973 in the textAydınlar Ocağı'nın Görüşü(Turkish:The View of the Intellectuals's Hearth). The starting point wasanti-communismand an endeavor to counter theMarxist ideology,which was perceived as a threat to Turkish values.

After the turmoil of the 1970s with bloody clashes between political camps and the1980 Turkish coup d'état,the junta tried, despite reservations about religious fundamentalism (Turkish:irtica), to use Islamic-conservative ideas and values to restore order and unity.[20]Following the 1980 coup d'état, the military dictatorship made a combination ofPan-Turkism,[21]Turkish-Islamic synthesis,andKemalismas the official state ideology.[22]Thought leaders of the Turkish-Islamic synthesis assumed that the Turks played a prominent role in the spread of Islam and thereby developed their national identity as part of the Islamicummah.According to this conception, being Turkish is only possible in connection with Islam. The idea of a Turkish-Islamic synthesis is still very popular in circles of theÜlkücü movement.

Turkish Cypriot nationalism

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Main article:Turkish Cypriot nationalism
See also:Cyprus problem

Turkish Cypriot nationalism emphasizes the support for the independence of theTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC) and desires that the TRNC stay independent from Turkey while opposing the idea of a united Cyprus with the Greek-dominatedRepublic of Cyprus.[23]

Neo-Nazism and neo-fascism

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Aneo-Nazigroup existed in 1969 inİzmir,when a group of formerRepublican Villagers Nation Partymembers (precursor party of theNationalist Movement Party) founded the association "Nasyonal Aktivite ve Zinde İnkişaf"(National Activity and Vigorous Development). The club maintained two combat units. The members woreSAuniforms and used theHitler salute.One of the leaders (Gündüz Kapancıoğlu) was re-admitted to the Nationalist Movement Party in 1975.[24]

Today, apart fromneo-fascist[32]Grey Wolvesand the Turkishultranationalist[39]MHP,there are some neo-Nazi organizations in Turkey such as the Ataman Brotherhood,[40]or the Turkish Nazi Party[41]and the National Socialist Party of Turkey which are mainly based on the Internet.[42][43][44]

21st century secular nationalism

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Following two decades long Islamic-conservative AKP rule, many authors and scholars point out a newly emerging wave, called secular nationalism by the most.[45]This new wave is yet to acquire a precise form and discourse,[46]but attracted interest mainly from young adults who are disillusioned with government policies - especially unregulated migrant inflow.[47]

Pro-Europeanism

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Further information:White Turks

The "Insulting Turkishness" laws

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Article 301of the Turkish Penal Code, which is perceived as contrary to the notion offreedom of speech,took effect on June 1, 2005, and was amended in 2008, states:The person who publicly denigrates the Turkish Nation, the Republic of Turkey, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the judicial organs of the State, shall be punished with imprisonment of six months to two years.The article also states,expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute a crime,and that it cannot be invoked without the approval of theMinister of Justice.[48]

There have been recent indications that Turkey may repeal or modify Article 301, after the embarrassment suffered by some high-profile cases.[49]Nationalists within the judicial system, intent on derailingTurkey's full admission into the European Union,have used Article 301 to initiate trials against people like Nobel Prize–winning Turkish novelistOrhan Pamuk,the Turkish novelistElif Shafak,and the lateHrant Dink[50]for acknowledging the existence of theArmenian genocide.

In May 2007, a law was put into effect allowing Turkey to block websites that are deemed insulting to Atatürk.[51]

See also

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References

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  1. ^E 1 – Beş Türk Lirası I. Tertiptcmb.gov.tr
  2. ^"Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Kağıt Paraları".Archived fromthe originalon 24 February 2007.Retrieved24 February2007.
  3. ^"ATATÜRK VE BOZKURT".Archivedfrom the original on 11 January 2007.Retrieved11 January2007.
  4. ^Landau, Jacob M. (1984).Atatürk and the Modernization of Turkey.Boulder: Westview Press. p. 133.ISBN0865319863.
  5. ^Shay, Anthony (2002).Choreographic Politics: State Folk Dance Companies, Representation, and Power.Wesleyan University Press. p. 210.ISBN0-8195-6521-0.
  6. ^abcAytürk, İlker (2014). "Nationalism and Islam in Cold War Turkey, 1944–69".Middle Eastern Studies.50(5):693–694.doi:10.1080/00263206.2014.911177.hdl:11693/12599.JSTOR24585883.
  7. ^Xypolia, Ilia (2017).British Imperialism and Turkish Nationalism in Cyprus, 1923-1939: divide, define and rule.London: Routledge.
  8. ^Rayner, Jeremy; Falls, Susan; Souvlis, George; Nelms, Taylor C. (2020).Back to the '30s?: Recurring Crises of Capitalism, Liberalism, and Democracy.Springer Nature. p. 161.ISBN978-3-030-41586-0.In the prevailing literature, the term ultra-nationalism is often used to describe Turkish nationalism.
  9. ^abCengiz Gunes (2020).The Political Representation of Kurds in Turkey: New Actors and Modes of Participation in a Changing Society.Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 6.
  10. ^Hanioglu, M. Sükrü; Hanioglu, M. Sükrü (2018).Atatürk: An Intellectual Biography.Vol. 1.doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691175829.001.0001.ISBN978-0-691-17582-9.[page needed]
  11. ^"Turkish Society".Britannica Online Encyclopedia.Retrieved1 July2008.
  12. ^Türkçülüğün Esasları pg.25 (Gökalp, Ziya)
  13. ^Ayşe Hür,Mustafa Kemal ve muhalifleri (1),Radikal,February 18, 2007.
  14. ^Guy E. Métraux, International Commission for a History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind,The new Asia,New American Library, 1965, p. 73.
  15. ^"ÜLKEN, Hilmi Ziya – TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi".
  16. ^"Ogan, Mehmet Râif - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi".
  17. ^"TOPÇU, Nurettin – TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi".
  18. ^Identity, Culture and Globalization – Annals of the International Institute of Sociology,ISBN978-90-04-12873-6,pp. 182–183.
  19. ^Werner Ende und Udo Steinbach: Der Islam in der Gegenwart. München 1996, S. 236
  20. ^Judith Hoffmann: Aufstieg und Wandel des politischen Islam in der Türkei. Berlin 2003, S. 25f.
  21. ^Central Eurasian Studies Review,Vol. 3, Central Eurasian Studies Society, 2004,p. 23. Ekrem Buğra Ekinci,16 Türk Devleti Cumhurbaşkanlığı forsundaki 16 yıldız neyi ifade ediyor?,2 February 2015.
  22. ^NewspaperRadikalon 28 May 2006
  23. ^"TRNC".
  24. ^Jürgen Roth and Kamil Taylan:Die Türkei – Republik unter Wölfen.Bornheim-Merten, p. 119.
  25. ^Jongman, A.J. (2017).Political Terrorism.p. 674.doi:10.4324/9781315126760.ISBN978-1-351-49861-6.
  26. ^Annual of Power and Conflict,by Institute for the Study of Conflict, National Strategy Information Center, 1982, p. 148
  27. ^Griffin, Roger (2013).The Nature of Fascism.p. 171.doi:10.4324/9781315003627.ISBN978-1-136-14588-9.
  28. ^Weinberg, Leonard; Pedahzur, Ami; Perliger, Arie (2008).Political Parties and Terrorist Groups.p. 45.doi:10.4324/9780203888377.ISBN978-1-135-97337-7.
  29. ^Fox, Robert (1993).The Inner Sea: The Mediterranean and Its People.Alfred A. Knopf. p. 260.ISBN978-0-394-57452-3.
  30. ^Martin A. Lee."On the Trail of Turkey's Terrorist Grey Wolves".The Consortium.
  31. ^"Crime of the Century".The Weekly Standard.Archived fromthe originalon 13 July 2014.Retrieved14 August2019.
  32. ^[25][26][27][28][29][30][31]
  33. ^Avcı, Gamze (September 2011). "The Nationalist Movement Party's Euroscepticism: Party Ideology Meets Strategy".South European Society and Politics.16(3):435–447.doi:10.1080/13608746.2011.598359.
  34. ^Çınar, Alev; Arıkan, Burak (2013). "The Nationalist Action Party: Representing the State, the Nation or the Nationalists?". In Rubin, Barry; Heper, Metin (eds.).Political Parties in Turkey.doi:10.4324/9781315039206.hdl:11693/50838.ISBN978-1-135-28938-6.
  35. ^Huggler, Justin (20 April 1999)."Turkish far right on the rise".The Independent.Retrieved21 May2014.
  36. ^Celep, Ödül (2010). "Turkey's Radical Right and the Kurdish Issue: The MHP's Reaction to the 'Democratic Opening'".Insight Turkey.12(2):125–142.JSTOR26331446.
  37. ^Arıkan, E. Burak (July 2002). "Turkish ultra–nationalists under review: a study of the Nationalist Action Party".Nations and Nationalism.8(3):357–375.doi:10.1111/1469-8219.00055.
  38. ^Butler, Daren (21 May 2011)."Pre-election resignations rock Turkish far right".Reuters.Retrieved21 May2014.
  39. ^[33][34][35][36][37][38]
  40. ^"Turkish far-right group beat Afghan man and shared video on social media – Turkish Minute".30 December 2021.Retrieved17 July2022.
  41. ^"Turkish Nazi Party".turknazipartisi.Archived fromthe originalon 18 February 2014.Retrieved7 July2014.
  42. ^"Nazi Party Established in Turkey".sabah.tr.Retrieved7 July2014.
  43. ^"They Might Be Joking But They Grow in Numbers".hurriyet.tr.Retrieved7 July2014.
  44. ^"Neo-Nazi Circassians on Turkey".caucasusforum.org.Archived fromthe originalon 14 July 2014.Retrieved7 July2014.
  45. ^Bora, Tanil (June 2022)."Milliyetçilik Özel Sayısı".Birikim(398).
  46. ^Altundag, Mehmet Yasar (22 September 2021)."Öfkeli Genç Türkler ve Türkiye'de milliyetçiliğin dönüşümü".MedyaScope.
  47. ^Dincaslan, M. Bahadirhan (2023).Seküler Milliyetçilik - 21. Yüzyılda Türk Milliyetçiliğinin Teorisi.Yenisey.ISBN9786057291011.
  48. ^"Kanun No. 5759"(in Turkish). Turkish Grand National Assembly, official Web site. 30 April 2008.Retrieved1 July2008.
  49. ^"Turkey insult law 'may be dumped'".BBC News.28 December 2005.Retrieved1 July2008.
  50. ^Schleifer, Yigal (16 December 2005)."Freedom-of-Expression Court Cases in Turkey Could Hamper Ankara's EU Membership Bid".Retrieved13 April2007.
  51. ^"Turkey adopts law to block 'insulting' websites".AFP.Turkish Daily News.7 May 2007.Retrieved1 July2008.[permanent dead link‍]

Sources

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Further reading

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  • Çetin, Zafer M. (October 2004). "Tales of past, present, and future: mythmaking and nationalist discourse in Turkish politics".Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs.24(2):347–365.doi:10.1080/1360200042000296708.
  • Poulton, Hugh (May 1999). "The struggle for hegemony in Turkey: Turkish nationalism as a contemporary force".Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans.1(1):15–31.doi:10.1080/14613199908413984.
  • Uslu, Emrullah (March 2008). "Ulusalcılık: The Neo-nationalist Resurgence in Turkey".Turkish Studies.9(1):73–97.doi:10.1080/14683840701814018.
  • Aktar, Ayhan (2021).Nationalism and Non-Muslim Minorities in Turkey, 1915 - 1950.Transnational Press London.ISBN978-1-80135-043-3.
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External videos
Turkey: Religious freedom vs nationalism -BBC
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