Turkish nationalism

Implemented by Atatürk, the founding ideology of the Republic of Turkey features nationalism (Turkish: milliyetçilik) as one of its six fundamental pillars.

The Kemalist revolution aimed to create a nation state from the remnants of the multi-religious and multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire. Kemalist nationalism originates from the social contract theories, especially from the principles advocated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his Social Contract. The Kemalist perception of social contract was effected by the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire which was perceived as a product of failure of the Ottoman "Millet" system and the ineffective Ottomanism policy. Kemalist nationalism, after experiencing the Ottoman Empire's breakdown, defined the social contract as its "highest ideal". It combines secularism, chauvinism, and a cult of personality of Atatürk.[7]

In the 1930s Kemalism became an all-encompassing state ideology based on his 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 or religion. Turkish nationality law states that he or she can be deprived of his/her nationality only through an act of treason.[8]

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".

"Turanist" nationalism began with the Turanian Society founded in 1839, followed in 1908 with the Turkish Society, which later became the Turkish Hearths[9] and eventually expanded to include ideologies such as Pan-Turanism and Pan-Turkism. The Young Turk Revolution which overthrew Sultan Abdul Hamid II, brought Turkish nationalists to power in the Ottoman Empire, eventually leading to the Three Pashas' control of the late Ottoman government.[10][11]

Alp Arslan

Anatolianism (Turkish: Anadoluculuk) takes as its starting point that the main source of Turkish culture should be Anatolia (Anadolu), and the main base of this thought is that the Turkish people had built a new civilization in Anatolia after 1071 when they won at the Battle of Manzikert.

In the early Republican era, some intellectuals like Hilmi Ziya Ülken,[12] Mehmet Râif Ogan[13] and Nurettin Topçu[14] proposed that the origins of the Turkish nationalism should be sought in Anatolia, not in "Turan".[15]

Hilmi Ziya Ülken, one of the founders of Anatolianism, was opposed to Neo-Ottomanism and Pan-Islamism, 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.

The Nationalist Movement Party is a far right party in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Following the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, the military dictatorship made Pan-Turkism the official state ideology.[16]

Emphasizes the support for the independence of the Turkish 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-dominated Republic of Cyprus.[17]

A neo-Nazi group existed in 1969 in İzmir, when a group of former Republican Villagers Nation Party members (precursor party of the Nationalist Movement Party) founded the association "Nasyonal Aktivitede Zinde İnkişaf" (Vigorous Development in National Activity). The club maintained two combat units. The members wore SA uniforms and used the Hitler salute. One of the leaders (Gündüz Kapancıoğlu) was re-admitted to the Nationalist Movement Party in 1975.[18]

Today, apart from neo-fascist[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Grey Wolves and the Turkish ultranationalist[26][27][28][29][30][31] Nationalist Movement Party, there are some neo-Nazi organizations in Turkey such as the Turkish Nazi Party[32] or the National Socialist Party of Turkey, which are mainly based on the Internet.[33][34][35]