Early Republican period Turkish nationalism in the context of the ethno-symbolist approach (1923-1938)

As of the 1950s, as the nationalist idea began to be active in world political life, severe increases wereseen in academic studies in this field. Theseacademic studies have existed as two main poles. On one side of this pole, there are primordialiststudies of nationalism, which also constitute the beginning of research and defend the view that nationalism has existed since the forgotten ages of history. At the other pole of the research, nations, and nationalists emerged as modern phenomena; In general, there are modernist views that defend the view that they are a construction or created(invented or imagined) social phenomena. However, ethno-symbolist nationalism studies, which emerged with the idea that both views have deficiencies or faults, have brought new breath to the studies on nationalism and have become a way between the two research poles. Although ethno symbolism, which developed under Anthony D. Smith's leadership, generally has the view that nations are modern phenomena, unlike modernists, it points to the pre-modern period as the time when nations appeared on the stage of history. According to ethnosymbolists, ethnic histories consist of the commonmyths, symbols, and memories of the communitiesthat took place on the stage of history beforemodernism formed the historical background of the nations that emerged as modern phenomena. As such, ethno symbolists hold the view those nations have a historical continuities, although there are changes and developments. When we look at earlyTurkish nationalism in terms of arguments such as common ethnic background, history, myth, memory, and symbol on which ethno symbolism is based on nationalism studies, it is noteworthy that Turkish history contains very clear examples. When the main oral or written sources of the Central Asian Turkish tradition such as Orkhon Inscriptions and AncientTurkish legends are examined, it is thought that the ancient Turkish communities had a national consciousness and feeling. The existence of this national consciousness and feeling seen in ancientTurkish communities is the clearest indicator that it is at the foundation of modern Turkish nationalism. In addition, the modern Turkish language in usetoday, the cultural elements of the routines in the social life of modern Turkish communities, can be attributed to the Ancient Turkish communities as the origin. It is thought that this shows the continuity of Turkish ethnicity and Turkish nationalism that is inherent in it. The revival of the national feeling and character of the ancient Turkish communities, whichcame to life in modern Turkish nationalism, was made possible by the Republic of Turkey adoptingnationalism as the main political principle, producingpolicies in this direction, and engaging in social engineering. So to speak, it is thought that in the first year of the Republic of Turkey, the past was calledupon to build the future. Finally, in this study, it is emphasized that the myths, symbols, and memories of ancient Turkish communities are tried to be revived by the state in the development of modern Turkish nationalism. In this direction, early-period Turkish nationalism willbe analyzed in the context of ethno symbolism, which advocates the view that ethnic identities play a leading role in the formation of modern nationalisms.