Ulusalism (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

: Ulusalcılık) is a secularist (),

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

neo-nationalist Neo-nationalism, or new nationalism, is an ideology and political movement built on the basic characteristics of classical nationalism. It developed to its final form by applying elements with reactionary character generated as a reaction to t ...

ideology in

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 ...

that is influenced by

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, ...

. Until the late 20th century, the word had been used as an equivalent of ''

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

''. In the mid-1990s, it transformed into a ideology led by left-wing nationalists, such as

Attila İlhan Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central and East ...

Mümtaz Soysal Osman Mümtaz Soysal (15 September 1929 – 11 November 2019) was a Turkish professor of constitutional law, political scientist, politician, human rights activist, ex-prisoner of conscience, senior advisor, columnist, and author. Soysal serve ...

, and

Doğu Perinçek Doğu Perinçek (; born 17 June 1942) is a Turkish politician, doctor of law and former communist revolutionary who has been chairman of the left-wing nationalist Patriotic Party since 2015. He was also a member of the Talat Pasha Committee, an ...

. As a reaction to the rise of a

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

, but staunchly

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

AKP in 2000s, Ulusalists came up with numerous conspiracy theories. The central theme of these theories is a world-wide conspiracy to destroy Turkey, which is believed to be spearheaded by countries such as

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

EU member states The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often de ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, ethnicities such as

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

, and

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, and ideologies such as

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

, anti-nationalist leftism, and

Islamism Islamism is a range of religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism ...

. To further consolidate their claims, the leaders of the ideology sought to 'historically prove' their theories, thus developing

Kemalist historiography Kemalist historiography () is a narrative of history mainly based on a six-day speech delivered by Mustafa Kemal tatürkin 1927, promoted by the political ideology of Kemalism, and influenced by Atatürk's cult of personality. It asserts th ...

and radicalizing it. These theories were popularized by media outlets such as ''

Sözcü ''Sözcü'' (English: ''Spokesperson'') is a popular Turkish daily newspaper. ''Sözcü'' was first published on 27 June 2007 by Burak Akbay and is distributed nationwide. As of June 2018, it was one of the top-selling newspapers in Turkey, with ...

'', a staunch Kemalist newspaper. According to

Doğan Gürpınar Doğan Gürpınar is a Turkish historian whose work focuses on the late Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. He is employed by Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, c ...

, the theories are mostly popular among upper-middle-class secular Turks; however, he notes that there is a lack of definitive research on this area.

Position on the political spectrum

The majority of those who identify themselves as Ulusalists define themselves as politically on the left. In a different view, CHP İzmir MP and former

ECtHR The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

judge

Rıza Türmen Rıza Mahmut Türmen (born 17 June 1941) is a Turkish politician and judge. He is the former judge of the European Court of Human Rights and currently an MP for İzmir in the Turkish Parliament, with the Republican People's Party. He graduated f ...

considered Ulusalism as a kind of "extreme Kemalist nationalism" and said that one cannot be both a Ulusalist and a leftist. In the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the word "Ulusalist" has also been used only in a nationalist sense. For example, in a debate in the parliament,

Muharrem İnce Muharrem İnce (; born 4 May 1964) is a Turkish physics teacher, school principal, sport executive, and politician. He is the founder and the incumbent leader of the Homeland Party since May 2021. Formerly a four term Republican People's Party ...

gave the example of Islamist politician

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician and political theorist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was la ...

and said, "Our world views were not the same with the late Erbakan, but he had a Ulusalist side, ndhe had a national stance." For

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (; born 17 December 1948), also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the Leader of the Republican People's Party, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Lis ...

, on the other hand, the word Ulusalism meant nationalism and patriotism and said in 2013 that CHP members were Ulusalist. AK Party Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik said of the students who protested against Erdoğan at

METU Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. As Turkey’s top ranked university, they focus on r ...

in 2012, "They are incorrigible Ulusalists."

Ulustalist political parties

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

Patriotic Party The Patriotic Party (), also known as the Patriot Party or, in English, as the Reform Party, was a political movement in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the period of the Four-Year Sejm (Great Sejm) of 1788–1792, whose chief achieveme ...

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

* Socialist Republican Party *Factions of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

* Justice Party

Notes

References

Kemalism Left-wing nationalism Political ideologies Political movements in Turkey Turkish nationalism Syncretic political movements {{Turkey-poli-stub

Position on the political spectrum

Ulustalist political parties

See also

Notes

References