Turkish nationalism

Turkish nationalism is a political ideology that promotes and glorifies the Turkish people, as either a national, ethnic or linguistic group. Like most forms of nationalism, it usually puts the interests of the state over all others influences, including religious ones.

History of Turkish nationalism

Turkish nationalism began with the Turanian Society founded in 1839, followed in 1908 with the Turkish Society, which later expanded into the Turkish Hearth [cite encyclopedia
url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/610080/Turkish-Society
accessdate=2008-07-01
title=Turkish Society
encyclopedia=Britannica Online Encyclopedia] and eventually expanded to include ideologies such as Pan-Turanism and Pan-Turkism.

The Young Turk revolution which overthrew Sultan Abdul Hamid II, allowed Turkish nationalism into power, eventually leading to the Three Pashas control of the late Ottoman government. It is believed that the nationalistic leanings of the Young Turks, Enver Pasha in particular, is what led the Committee of Union and Progress to oversee a series of massacres, mass arrests, and deportations against Anatolia's largest non-Muslim Minority in what is known as the Armenian Genocide during World War I. [Adalian, Rouben Paul. [http://www.armenian-genocide.org/young_turks.html Young Turks and the Armenian Genocide] ]

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the reformer Mustafa Kemal Atatürk came to power. Atatürk discouraged the Pan-Turkic ambitions of his predecessors.Fact|date=August 2007 Atatürk introduced Hilaire de Baranton's Sun Language Theory into Turkish political and educational circles in 1935, at the high point of attempts to "cleanse" the Turkish language of foreign influence. Turkish researchers at the time also came up with the idea that Early Sumerians were proto-Turks.cite book
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=Dc8ij9DULgwC&pg=PA210&vq=Sumerians&dq=Choreographic+Politics&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U2H2Q8liSFE-BF9rqIGEq67dm-StQ
author = Shay, Anthony
year = 2002
page = 210
isbn = 0819565210
publisher = Wesleyan University Press
title = Choreographic Politics: State Folk Dance Companies, Representation, and Power]

Modern Turkish nationalism

Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which is perceived as being contrary to notion of freedom of speech, states "A person who explicitly insults being a Turk, the Republic or Turkish Grand National Assembly, the penalty to be imposed shall be imprisonment for a term of six months to three years." [cite web
url=http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/kanunlar/k5759.html
accessdate=2008-07-01
title=Kanun No. 5759
publisher=Turkish Grand National Assembly, official Web site
date=2008-04-30
language=Turkish] It also states that "Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute a crime."

There have been recent indications that Turkey may abandon or modify Article 301, after the embarrassment suffered by some high profile cases. [cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4565466.stm
title=Turkey insult law 'may be dumped'
accessdate=2008-07-01
work=BBC News
date=2005-12-28] 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, the Turkish novelist Elif Şafak, and the late Hrant Dink. [cite web|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav121605.shtml|title=Freedom-of-Expression Court Cases in Turkey Could Hamper Ankara’s EU Membership Bid|first= Yigal | last= Schleifer |date=2005-12-16|accessdate = 2007-04-13]

In May 2007, a law was put into effect allowing Turkey to block Web sites that are deemed insulting to Atatürk. [cite news
url=http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=72465
accessdate=2008-07-01
date=2007-05-07
work=AFP
title=Turkey adopts law to block 'insulting' websites
publisher=Turkish Daily News]

ee also

* Anatolianism
* Grey Wolves
* Greek nationalism

References

Further reading

* cite journal
quotes =
last = Çetin
first = Zafer M.
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 2004
month = October
title = Tales of past, present, and future: mythmaking and nationalist discourse in Turkish politics
journal = Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs
volume = 24
issue = 2
pages = 347–365
issn =
pmid =
doi = 10.1080/1360200042000296708
id =
url =

* cite journal
quotes =
last = Poulton
first = Hugh
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 1999
month = May
title = The struggle for hegemony in Turkey: Turkish nationalism as a contemporary force
journal = Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans
volume = 1
issue = 1
pages = 15–31
issn =
pmid =
doi = 10.1080/14613199908413984
id =
url =

* cite journal
quotes =
last = Uslu
first = Emrullah
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 2008
month = March
title = Ulusalcılık: The Neo-nationalist Resurgence in Turkey
journal = Turkish Studies
volume = 9
issue = 1
pages = 73–97
issn =
pmid =
doi = 10.1080/14683840701814018
id =
url =

External links

* [http://www.turania.com Turanian Community] Turanian Community
* [http://www.hunturk.net Turkcu and Turanist Forum] Turkish Nationalist Community