Turkish nationalism () is nationalism among the people of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and individuals whose national identity is Turkish. Turkish nationalism consists of political and social movements and sentiments prompted by a love for

Turkish culture The culture of Turkey () or the Turkish culture () includes both the national culture and local cultures. Currently, Turkey has various local cultures. Things such as music, folk dance, or kebap variety may be used to identify a local area. Tur ...

Turkish language Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, 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 the Tanzimat era. It also has a complicated relationship with Muslim identity,

Pan-Turkism Pan-Turkism () or Turkism () is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), South Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and th ...

, and

Turanism Turanism, also known as Turanianism, pan-Turanism or pan-Turanianism, is a Pan-nationalism, pan-nationalist political movement built around Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific claims of mongoloid, biological and Altaic, linguistic connections betwee ...

History

After the

fall Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

came to power. He introduced a

language reform Language reform is a kind of language planning by widespread change to a language. The typical methods of language reform are simplification and linguistic purism. Simplification regularises vocabulary, grammar, or spelling. Purism aligns the langu ...

with the aim to "cleanse" the Turkish language of foreign (mostly Arabic and Persian) influence. He also promoted the

Turkish History Thesis The Turkish History Thesis (''Türk Tarih Tezi'') is a Turkish ultranationalist, pseudohistoric thesis which posited the belief that the Turks moved from their ancestral homeland in Central Asia and migrated to China, India, the Balkans, t ...

in Turkish political and educational circles from 1930s. Turkish researchers at the time like Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın and

Rıfat Osman Bey Rıfat Osman Bey (18 February 1874 Istanbul – 10 May 1933) was a Turkish physician, writer and historian, who was one of the patriarchs of the pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim t ...

also came up with the idea that Early

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

ians were proto-Turks. The early Turkish nationalists were typically

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

and often influenced by

Ziya Gökalp Mehmet Ziya Gökalp (born Mehmed Ziya, 23 March 1876 – 25 October 1924) was a Turkish sociologist, writer, poet, and politician. After the 1908 Young Turk Revolution that reinstated constitutionalism in the Ottoman Empire, he adopted the pen ...

(1876–1924). Gökalp aimed for the

Turkification Turkification, Turkization, or Turkicization () describes a shift whereby populations or places receive or adopt Turkic attributes such as culture, language, history, or ethnicity. However, often this term is more narrowly applied to mean specif ...

of Islam; that the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

should be translated from Arabic into Turkish, and that the

adhan The (, ) is the Islamic call to prayer, usually recited by a muezzin, traditionally from the minaret of a mosque, shortly before each of the five obligatory daily prayers. The adhan is also the first phrase said in the ear of a newborn baby, ...

should be recited in Turkish instead of Arabic from the

Minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s. 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.

Variants

Ideologies associated with Turkish nationalism include

(a form of ethnic or racial essentialism or

national mysticism National mysticism (German: ''Nationalmystik'') or mystical nationalism is a form of nationalism that elevates the nation to the status of numen or divinity. Its best-known instance is Germanic mysticism, which gave rise to occultism under the Thir ...

), Turkish-Islamic synthesis (which combines Turkish nationalism with Islamic identity), Anatolianism (which considers the Turkish nation as a separate entity which developed after the

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

conquest of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

in the 11th century), and

, civic nationalist

Kemalism Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. New York, ...

(which defines the " Turks" as the

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

of the people of

). The term "

ultranationalism Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific i ...

" is often used to describe Turkish nationalism.

Kemalism or Turkish state nationalism

Implemented by Atatürk, the founding ideology of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

features nationalism () as one of its six principles. Following the proclamation of the republic in 1923, the Kemalism or "Turkish state nationalism" became the official state ideology and the guiding principle behind the widespread socio-political reforms. The Kemalist revolution aimed to create a

nation state A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the State (polity), state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly ...

from the remnants of the multi-religious and multi-ethnic

. Kemalist nationalism originates from the

social contract In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is an idea, theory, or model that usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Conceptualized in the Age of Enlightenment, it ...

theories, especially from the civic nationalist principles advocated by

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

and his ''

Social Contract In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is an idea, theory, or model that usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Conceptualized in the Age of Enlightenment, it ...

''. The Kemalist perception of social contract was effected by the

dissolution of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) was a period of history of the Ottoman Empire beginning with the Young Turk Revolution and ultimately ending with the empire's dissolution and the founding of the modern state of Turkey. The ...

which was perceived as a product of failure of the Ottoman " ''Millet''" system and the ineffective

Ottomanism Ottomanism or ''Osmanlılık'' (, . ) was a concept which developed prior to the 1876–1878 First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire. Its proponents believed that it could create the Unity of the Peoples, , needed to keep religion-based ...

policy. Kemalist nationalism, after experiencing the Ottoman Empire's breakdown, defined the social contract as its "highest ideal". In the 1930s Kemalism became an all-encompassing

state ideology Ideocracy (a portmanteau word combining "ideology" and ''kratos'', Greek for "power") is "governance of a state according to the principles of a particular (political) ideology; a state or country governed in this way". It is government based on ...

based on Atatürk's sayings and writings. The Kemalist definition of nationality was integrated to Article 66 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey. Legally, every citizen is defined as a Turk, regardless of

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

or religion.

Turkish nationality law Turkish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of ''jus sanguinis''. Children who are born to a Turkish women, Turkish mother or a Turkish people, Turkish father (in or out of marriage) are Turkey, Turkish citizens from birth. The i ...

states that he or she can be deprived of his/her nationality only through an act of treason. 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

"Turanist" nationalism began with the Turanian Society founded in 1839, followed in 1908 with the Turkish Society, which later became the Turkish Hearths and eventually expanded to include ideologies such as Pan-Turanism and

. Pan-Turkism (), as he stated in his book ''Principles of Turkism'', was also a part of

's nationalist view which he called "Turkism", as an ideal of the unity of

Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

. The

Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908; ) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionaries belonging to the Internal Committee of Union and Progress, an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II ...

which overthrew Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

, brought Turkish nationalists to power in the

, eventually leading to the

Three Pashas The Three Pashas, also known as the Young Turk triumvirate or CUP triumvirate, consisted of Mehmed Talaat Pasha, the Grand Vizier (prime minister) and Minister of the Interior; Ismail Enver Pasha, the Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief to ...

' control of the late Ottoman government.

Anatolianism

Anatolianism () takes as its starting point that the main source of

should be

(''Anadolu''), and the main base of this thought is that the

Turkish people Turks (), or Turkish people, are the largest Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group, comprising the majority of the population of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. They generally speak the various Turkish dialects. In addition, centuries-old Turkish co ...

had built a new civilization in Anatolia after 1071 when they won at the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, Iberia (theme), Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army ...

. In the early Republican era, some intellectuals like

Hilmi Ziya Ülken Hilmi Ziya Ülken (1901–1974) was a Turkish scholar and writer who had an influential role in the development of sociological and philosophical views in Turkey. In addition to his scientific work, he produced literary work, including poems. Ea ...

, Mehmet Râif Ogan and Nurettin Topçu proposed that the origins of the Turkish nationalism should be sought in Anatolia, not in "

Turan Turan (; ; , , ) is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of th ...

". Hilmi Ziya Ülken, one of the founders of Anatolianism, was opposed to

Neo-Ottomanism Neo-Ottomanism (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Yeni Osmanlıcılık, Neo-Osmanlıcılık'') is an Irredentism, irredentist and imperialism, imperialist Politics of Turkey, Turkish political ideology that, in its broadest sense, advocates to honor t ...

and

Pan-Islamism Pan-Islamism () is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at ...

, as well as to Turanism. In 1919, Ülken wrote a book titled ''Anadolunun Bugünki Vazifeleri'' (Present Duties of Anatolia), but it was not published. Ülken and friends published the periodical ''Anadolu''. They worked to form an alternative philosophy to Ottomanism, Islamism and Turanism.

Turkish-Islamic nationalism

Turkish-Islamic nationalism, also known as the Turkish-Islamic synthesis () is a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

Islamic-conservative ideology that combines Turkish nationalism and

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. The term was coined in 1972 by the conservative historian İbrahim Kafesoğlu, who traced the Turkish-Islamic synthesis back to the first Muslim Turkic dynasty, the

Karakhanids The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; zh, t=喀喇汗國, p=Kālā Hánguó), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Karluks, Karluk Turkic peoples, Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the ...

, 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 club ''Aydınlar Ocağı'' () of which cofounder was Kafesoğlu. Representatives of the intellectual club explicitly formulated their thoughts and in particular their understanding of history in 1973 in the text ''Aydınlar Ocağı'nın Görüşü'' (). The starting point was

anti-communism Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

and an endeavor to counter the Marxist ideology, which was perceived as a threat to Turkish values. After the turmoil of the 1970s with bloody clashes between political camps and the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état (), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by memorandum. During ...

, the junta tried, despite reservations about religious fundamentalism (), to use Islamic-conservative ideas and values to restore order and unity. Following the 1980 coup d'état, the military dictatorship made a combination of

, Turkish-Islamic synthesis, and

as the official state ideology. 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 Islamic ''

ummah ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective com ...

''. 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 the Ülkücü movement.

Turkish Cypriot nationalism

Turkish Cypriot nationalism emphasizes the support for the independence of the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all o ...

(TRNC) and desires that the TRNC stay independent from Turkey while opposing the idea of a united Cyprus with the Greek-dominated

Republic of Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third lar ...

Neo-Nazism and neo-fascism

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

group existed in 1969 in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, when a group of former Republican Villagers Nation Party members (precursor party of the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

) founded the association " Nasyonal Aktivite ve Zinde İnkişaf" (''National Activity and Vigorous Development''). The club maintained two combat units. The members wore SA uniforms and used the

Hitler salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened han ...

. One of the leaders (Gündüz Kapancıoğlu) was re-admitted to the Nationalist Movement Party in 1975. Today, apart from

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

Grey Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey ...

and the Turkish

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

MHP, there are some neo-Nazi organizations in Turkey such as the Ataman Brotherhood, or the Turkish Nazi Party and the National Socialist Party of Turkey which are mainly based on the Internet.

21st century secular nationalism

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

Pro-Europeanism

The "Insulting Turkishness" laws

Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which is perceived as contrary to the notion of

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

, 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 the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. There have been recent indications that Turkey may repeal or modify Article 301, after the embarrassment suffered by some high-profile cases. Nationalists within the judicial system, intent on derailing Turkey's full admission into the European Union, have used Article 301 to initiate trials against people like Nobel Prize–winning Turkish novelist

Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...

, the Turkish novelist

Elif Shafak Elif Shafak ( ; née Bilgin; born 25 October 1971) is a British Turks, Turkish-British novelist, essayist, public speaker, Political science, political scientist and activist. Shafak writes in Turkish language, Turkish and English language, En ...

, and the late

Hrant Dink Hrant Dink (; Western ; 15 September 1954 – 19 January 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian intellectual, editor-in-chief of ''Agos'', journalist, and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper ''Agos'', Dink was a ...

for acknowledging the existence of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

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

References

Sources

* * Eissenstat, Howard. "Anatolianism: The History of a Failed Metaphor of Turkish Nationalism". Paper presented at Middle East Studies Association Conference, Washington, D.C., November 2002. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turkish Nationalism Anti-Armenian sentiment Antisemitism in Turkey Anti-Kurdish sentiment Racism in Turkey Anti-Greek sentiment