Turkish intellectuals on issues of the state, politics and democracy: A review with regard to Erol Güngör's thoughts

Intelectuals are one of the issues frequently discussed in ancient current social and political issues. Although the positions, status and names of people we have referred to even if intellectuals have changed throughout the historical process, their roles in social and political life have always been important. Especially with the Enlightenment in the West and Turkish modernization in our country, the roles and positions of the intellectuals in the social and political sphere have changed, and intellectuals have become one of the most important subjects. We know that Turkish intellectuals have produced ideas on issues such as the state and politics in every period of history and made important attempts to do them. Erol Güngör is one of these intellectuals. Güngör approached many social issues with his identity as a sociologist, social psychologist and scientist, and brought them different perspectives with scientific methods. One of the social issues which he studied and made important examinations is the matter of intellectuals. Erol Güngör is of the opinion that the Turkish intellectual turned to the west with the Turkish modernization, became alienated from the people and the value systems of the people over time, and this situation created a people-intellectual duality in the society. Güngör, states that this elitist, anti-democratic attitude of the intellectuals harms the national integrity and democracy and even shakes the political order ( the integrity of the state. In this context, Güngör has the idea of Turkish intellectuals who are especially Westernist and revolutionary a threat in front of the national existence. Keywords: Politics, State, Democracy Problem, Turkish Intellectual, Erol Güngör.