Comments of Turkish nationalism in the post-Republican period: A study through Erol Güngör and Hüseyin Nihal Atsız

The Kemalist interpretation of Turkish nationalism, the founding ideology of the Republic in Turkey, has existed as a dominant system of thought for many years. However, over time, intellectuals who criticized this ideology at certain points came to the fore. These intellectuals, who differed from the Kemalist ideology, adhered to the ideology of nationalism but adopted conservative values and a more positive attitude towards religion or advocated a more radical, race-based understanding of nationalism. In this process, two critical currents emerged as an alternative to Kemalist Turkish nationalism: Conservative Nationalism and Racist-Turanist Nationalism. Erol Güngör has been one of the essential figures of a tradition that can be defined as conservative nationalism. He aimed to produce solution-oriented and realistic ideas, especially with his studies on issues such as cultural change, modernization, and the role of intellectuals in Turkey. Güngör's ideas made important contributions to the understanding of conservative nationalism and enabled him to create a more comprehensive system of thought away from vicious ideological debates. On the other hand, Hüseyin Nihal Atsız, as the leading representative of racist-Turanist nationalism, criticized Kemalist nationalism, especially from a race-based perspective. The tensions between the Kemalist regime's understanding of nationalism and racist-Turanist nationalism that began in the late 1920s were shaped around the ideas of figures such as Nihal Atsız. Atsız's radical approaches clearly differentiated this movement from Kemalist nationalism and crystallized the differences between the two ideologies. In this thesis, both Erol Güngör's life and conceptual approaches are examined and his contributions to conservative nationalism are explained, and the basic elements of racist-Turanist nationalism and its differences with Kemalist nationalism are discussed in the axis of Nihal Atsız's ideas. In addition, the formation process of Kemalist nationalism, its essential elements, and its transformations are analyzed in detail. Thus, the historical and ideological diversity of nationalism in Turkey has been tried to be revealed.