TURKISH NATIONALISM vs. KEMALISM: HEGEMONY, ASSIMILATION, CHALLENGE

This study attempts to analyze the objections and criticisms of the pioneering intellectual and politic figures of Turkish nationalism on the theses and policies of Kemalism. In this analysis, Kemalism is not regarded as only a set of thoughts, also an official ideology that built hegemony over variety of ideologies, political parties, governments and transformed this hegemony into a tradition of bureaucratic-militarist dominance thanks to its apparatus of military, bureaucracy, media, judiciary and intellectuals. In this sense, the hegemony of Kemalism over other ideologies took place for Turkish nationalism as well and this process operated through the mechanisms of both struggles and challenges and also compromises and assimilation. In this article, the views of anti-Kemalist, Turkish nationalist intellectuals on Kemalism and its basic ideological components i.e. cultural Westernization, nation-state, new official history writing, anti-Turanism and authoritarian positivist secularism are explored chronologically by analyzing periodic changes and the conjunctural impacts. As the components of the conjunctural impacts, political alliances, coups and the developments in the World affected the positions of nationalists and determined the shape of conflicts, struggles and compromises. The history of differentiation of Turkism and Kemalism, and the social and political axis of this differentiation is discussed by analyzing the discourses of the political and ideological pioneers of Turkish nationalism. In this frame the ideas and discourses of nationalist intellectuals and politicians like Nihal Ats？z, Zeki Velidi Togan, Fuad K？prülü, Ahmed A？ao？lu, Alparslan Türke？, Mümtaz Turhan, Necip Faz？l, Erol Güng？r, Ahmet Kabakl？, Nevzat K？so？lu and others are analyzed