The Islamization of Turkish nationalism in Cold War Turkey, 1965-1980

This thesis explores the relationship between the far-right Turkish na-tionalism and Islam between 1965, when Alparslan Türkeş entered multiparty politics, and 1980, when the coup d'état which subsequently led to the closing of his political party took place. The main question that drives this work is, how has the far–right Turkish nationalism, which included a significant, if not dominant presence of secular na-tionalists in 1965, turned into an ideology that championed the Turkish-Islamic synthesis as of 1980? The convergences, divergences and ex-changes between nationalism and Islamism are presented within an intellectual history framework. A variety of primary sources, such as nationalist political magazines, memoires, books, and election campaign materials were used. Three overarching arguments are reached by their analysis. First, Islamic themes have been increasingly abundant in nationalist ideology; a significantly Islamized nationalism, especially among the youth has come into existence as the dominant strand in far-right by 1980. Second, the Turkish-Islamic synthesis has had an un-easy nature despite nationalists' attempts to reconcile the two, causing constant tension. Third, Türkeş's approach to religion was an instru-mentalist one; the main function of Islam in his ideology was as a source of high morality, which he considered necessary for national development.