Ideological origins of the relationship of idealist movement with Kemalism: Alparslan Türkeş's perception of Kemalism

The concept of Kemalism, which emerged during the founding of the Republic, is an ideological movement that has assumed a leading role in the shaping of Turkish political life and Turkish modernisation. The content of Kemalism has been shaped by movements such as Turkism, Westernism and positivism, especially Atatürk's ideas and actions. During the period until Atatürk's death, a number of policies, particularly the "Six Arrows", and the views put forward in various fora formed the ideological infrastructure of Kemalism. After Atatürk's death, Kemalism was analysed from different perspectives with various interpretations of many different names and was articulated with different movements. In this context, different perceptions of Kemalism and different Kemalisms have emerged. One of the names who approached Kemalism from different perspectives was Alparslan Türkeş, who assumed an influential role in Turkish political life with the claim of representing Turkish nationalism. In this study, Türkeş's perception of Kemalism was discussed and analysed. In the study, it is claimed that Atatürk's ideas and actions played a decisive role in shaping Türkeş's perception of Kemalism. Again, it is claimed in the study that Türkeş's perception of Kemalism was shaped more around Turkish nationalist ideas and that the shaped perception was too expressed in this way. It is thought that Türkeş, although agreeing on many issues, had ideas that were not reconcilable with Kemalism, especially on the issues of religion and community. Again, it is also claimed in the study that Türkeş, whose understanding of nationalism differed from Kemalist nationalism from time to time, reconciled with Kemalist nationalism at a point that tried to protect the unity of the state and the existence of the nation, and that there were practices that would set an example for this situation at the beginning and end of his political life. The claims put forward in the study were tried to be addressed by utilising qualitative research methods.