Pan-Turkism

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Pan-Turkism is a political movement aiming to unite the various Turkic peoples into a modern political state, a movement closely related to Turanism.

1 Name
2 History
3 Turkey's role
4 Origins of Turkic peoples
5 Criticism
6 Key personalities
7 Quotations
8 See also
9 Further reading
10 External links
11 References

[edit] Name

In the research literature, the terms Turanism or Panturanism are used to describe the idea of political, cultural and ethnic unity of all Türkic-speaking people joined with Hungarians, Ests and Finnish peoples. The Turanism is a more general term than Türkism, which applies only to the Türkic people. But even researchers and politicians engaged in the field of Türkic ideology had used these terms interchangeably in a multitude of sources and literature. <Iskander Gilyazov, "Türkism, Panturanism, and Germany", magazine "Тatarstan" No 5-6, 1995, http://beznen-yul.narod.ru/by-kyzyk/panturk.htm>

While the various Turkic peoples often share historical, cultural and linguistic roots, the rising of a pan-Turkic political movement is a phenomenon only of the 19th and 20th century and can be seen in parallel with European developments like Pan-Slavism and Pan-Germanism or with Middle-Eastern Pan-Arabism. Proponents use the latter most often as a point of comparison as the concept of "Turkic" is not a true racial or ethnic description but more of a linguistic and cultural distinction. This is to differentiate it from the term "Turkish" which is more of an ethnic/racial term for the citizens and denizens primarily residing in Turkey.

[edit] History

In 1804, Tatar theologian Kursavi wrote a treatise calling for Islam’s modernization. Kursavi was a founder of the religious thought of Djadidism (from Arabic al-djadid, which means renewal or reform). The idea of Djadidism was encouragement of critical thinking, as opposed to insistence on unquestioning loyalty. It supported education for Muslims and promoted equality among the sexes; advocated tolerance for other faiths, Türkic cultural unity, and openness to Europe’s cultural legacy. <Rafael Khakimov, “Taklid And Ijtihad”, "Russia in Global Affairs", Dec. 2003, http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/region-ecology/numbers/5/504.html> In the 1843 in Kazan was created a movement Djadid. Its aim was a semi-secular modernization and educational reform, and within Djadid for the first time sprout the idea of a national, and not religious identity of the Türks. Before that they were solely Moslem subjects of the Russia, and the Empire continued this attitude to its very collapse.<”Century and a half of Pan- Türkism in Turkey”, American Türkologist, http://www.panorama.ru/gazeta/p35_turk.html>

Following the upsurge in Russian colonization of the Volga area in 1880, the Islamic social movement Djadidism added motives of national-liberation, but as a result of increase of the imperial tendencies in the Russian internal politics after the 1907 many partisans of the Türkic unity immigrated to Turkey. In the 1908-1913 Russia enforced so called “struggle against Pan-Islamist movements between Tatars”. The tsarist secret service used methods of crude lies, provocation, and it times adept falsification to fabricate criminal actions. The secret service run searches, arrests, and relied on paid informers and fabricated witnesses. <Rafael Khakimov, “Taklid And Ijtihad”, "Russia in Global Affairs", Dec. 2003, http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/region-ecology/numbers/5/504.html> Later, the regimes in USSR/Russia, China and Iran adopted the theses and methods developed in the imperial Russia for their own internal policies. <Iskander Gilyazov, "Türkism, Panturanism, and Germany", magazine "Тatarstan" No 5-6, 1995, http://beznen-yul.narod.ru/by-kyzyk/panturk.htm>

In the 1908 power in the Ottoman Turkey received the “Unity and Progress” committee, and the Ottoman Empire turned toward nationalistic ideology. From the 16th c. the Empire was a Moslem Empire, the Sultan was a Caliph for the part of the Moslem lands under his control. From Russia, the exiled Enlightment leaders espousing Pan-Türkism fled to Istambul, where rose a powerful Pan-Türkic movement. From that time, the Turkish Pan-Türkism grew into nationalistic, ethnically oriented replacement of the Caliphate by a world-wide state. Following the fall of the Ottoman Empire with its multi-cultural and multi-ethnic population, influenced by emerging racial theories and the Turkish nationalism of the Young Turks, some tried to replace the lost empire with a new Turkish commonwealth. But a speedy collapse of the Ottoman Empire brought about dictatorial Mustafa Kamal (Atatürk), who replaced Pan-Türkic idealism with solely Anatolian nationalism aimed at preservation of Anatolian nucleus instead of global imperial pretences, with some isolationist bend. Mustafa Kamal Atatürk penalized Pan-Türkist groups and closed all publications of Pan-Türkic orientation. <”Century and a half of Pan-Türkism in Turkey”, American Türkologist, http://www.panorama.ru/gazeta/p35_turk.html>

One of the most significant early exponents of pan-Turkism was Enver Pasha, the Ottoman Minister of War and acting Commander-in-Chief during World War I. He later became one of the leaders of the Basmachi movement in Central Asia during the Russian Civil War, trying to create a united Turkestan.

In the Soviet Russia, the budding Bolshevik government quickly retreated from its initial populist promises, and mounted a determined chauvinistic campaign of dismemberment the territories of national minorities, creation of ethnically mixed political entities, incorporation of indigenous territories into Russian Federation, and replacement of national scripts by incompatible national alphabets. Coupled with annihilation of the national educated elite, genocidal deportation of the entire nations, and spiritual execution like the 9 August 1944 Declaration of the Central Committee VKP(b), this policy wiped out any trace of independent thinking. <Iskander Gilyazov, "Türkism, Panturanism, and Germany", magazine "Тatarstan" No 5-6, 1995, http://beznen-yul.narod.ru/by-kyzyk/panturk.htm>

The last episode in the history of Pan-Türkism played out during WWII, when Nazi Germany tried to exploit the suppressed national-liberation feelings of the Türkic peoples under a flag of Pan-Türkism in their fight with the Stalinist Russia. The German intrigues, however, did not bore any results. <Iskander Gilyazov, "Türkism, Panturanism, and Germany", magazine "Тatarstan" No 5-6, 1995, http://beznen-yul.narod.ru/by-kyzyk/panturk.htm>

While of little impact during much of the 20th century, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late 20th century meant that the majority of the Turkic peoples were suddenly again able to travel and conduct business as partners in political alliances.

[edit] Turkey's role

Turkey has become a major business partner to many Central Asian Turkic states, helped with the reform of higher education, the introduction of the Latin alphabet, economic development and commerce. However, these efforts have met the expectations of neither the Turkic states nor the Pan-Turkist sentiment in Turkey. For example:

Housing projects of modest size promised to the Crimean Turks have not been completed after many years.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan never adopted the Latin alphabet, while the Turkmen and Uzbek alphabets are not compatible with the rest, mostly due to the lack or delay of the printing and teaching material promised by Turkey.
Abulfaz Elchibey, of Azerbaijan, whose presidency was toppled by a small group of soldiers after the Turkish government refused to intervene.

[edit] Origins of Turkic peoples

The political pan-Turkic movement is linked with parallel development of theories of the origin of Turkic peoples, with some linguistic theories about the Ural-Altaic languages and with some theories about ancient archeology, e.g. the origin of the Sumerians as being early Turks<ref>Anthony Shay, Choreographic Politics, 2002, p.210</ref><ref>Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, 1991, p.12</ref>. The Kemalist movement in Turkey to "clean" the Turkish language from foreign (mostly Persian and Arabic) influence and particularly the Sun Language Theory, introduced by Kemal Atatürk himself<ref>Arnold M. Ludwig, King of the Mountain: The Nature of Political Leadership, 2004, p.303</ref><ref>Gareth M. Winrow, Kemal Kirisci, The Kurdish Question and Turkey: An Example of a Trans-State Ethnic Conflict, 1997, p.102</ref>, can all be seen as part of this same intellectual climate.

[edit] Criticism

Pan-Turkism is and has always been a movement viewed with suspicion by many, often perceived as nothing else but a new form of Turkish imperial ambition. Some see it as downright racist, particularly when considering the associated racial and historical teachings. Critics also believe that the concept of Pan-Turkism is flawed because of the distinct dialects among each different group of Turks, which some times lead to problems of understanding between people speaking different Turkic language. There is also concern over religious differences too. Although most Turks follow the Sunni sect of Islam, the Azeris of Azerbaijan are distinct in that they follow the more conservative Shi'a school. Some critics also claim that Pan-Turkists are at the fore front of major historical revisionism regarding Turkic history and world history in general. <ref>Pan-Turanianism Takes Aim at Azerbaijan: A Geopolitical Agenda By: Dr. Kaveh Farrokh</ref>

Critics also cite Pan-Turkism as a direct cause for the Armenian Genocide of 1915, in which Enver Pasha was involved. The movement has also been seen as the cause for the policy of "Turkification" which Turkey has attempted to impose on its ethnic minorities such as the Zazas and the Kurds. Until 1991, the Turkish government denied the existence of a separate Kurdish ethnic identity and statistically categorized them as "Mountain Turks".<ref>Turkey - Linguistic and Ethnic Groups - U.S. Library of Congress</ref>

Still, proponents see Pan-Turkism as a way of increasing regional security, economic growth and as a viable bulwark against Islamist movements, by furthering secular and democratic government in the region.

[edit] Key personalities

[edit] Quotations

"Dilde, fikirde, işte birlik" translated "Unity of Language, Thought and Action" by İsmail Gaspıralı, 1839 a Crimean Tatar and famous member of the Turanian Society

"Bu yürüyüş devam ediyor. Türk orduları ata ruhlarının dolaştığı Altay ve Tanrı Dağları eteklerinde geçit resmi yapıncaya kadar devam edecektir." translated "This march is going on. It will continue until the Turkic Armies' parade on the foothills of Altai and Tien-Shan mountains where the souls of their ancestors stroll." Hüseyin Nihâl Atsız, a famous Pan-Turkist.