Civil religion approach in Ziya Gokalp's idea of cultural Turkism

The aim of the study is to investigate and present a comparative analysis of Ziya Gökalp's concept of cultural Turkism within the context of civil religion.The study focuses on comparing Ziya Gökalp's concept of Turkism, which is based on common culture, history, and goals rather than a requirement of a common race or origin as emphasized in his own thinking, with Robert Bellah's framework of Civil Religion, which can also be referred to as the sacred foundation of being a culture (Ataman, 2020). The study examines the points of convergence or divergence between these two ideas. Furthermore, in the context of examining Ziya Gökalp, various domestic and foreign sociologists, writers, and poets who have influenced his intellectual development and shaped his ideas have also been utilized. The emergence of Ziya Gökalp's culture-based Turkism was significantly influenced by the nationalism movement that arose in 1789 with the French Revolution, which coincided with the final stages of the Ottoman Empire. The impact of this movement was particularly pronounced due to the aspirations of various nations within the Ottoman Empire to gain individual autonomy and subsequently separate from the Ottoman state (Çakır, 2022:1). In this context, various intellectual movements were proposed to prevent the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. One of these movements was the ideology of Turkism, advocated by figures such as Ziya Gökalp, Yusuf Akçura, and İsmail Gaspıralı. In order to mitigate the damages caused by the nationalist movement to the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire, Ziya Gökalp proposed a concept of Turkism that emphasized cultural foundations, such as a common history and shared past, rather than racial unity and bonds, which were central to the nationalist ideology of that period. In the 20th century, the idea of Civil Religion, which emerged for similar reasons and was systematised by Robert Bellah in America, can be seen (Köçer, 2003: 12). The idea of Civil Religion was put forward as a concept in which the American community, formed by the immigration of people of different nationalities to America after the discovery of America, would ensure their own unity and be united, not separated. N. Robert Bellah argues that in the modern era, traditional religions have lost their validity and have become barriers with their inward focus on their own believers and their detachment from the wider society. Instead, he proposes the concept of an American Civil Religion that is shaped by cultural connections and collective bonds, prioritizing social cohesion (Düzce, 2020: 4). This study aims to present a comparative analysis of these two ideas, highlighting their similarities and differences as mentioned above. Keywords: Ziya Gökalp, Cultural Nationalism, N. Robert Bellah, American Civil Religion