Reha Oğuz Türkkan
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Reha Oğuz Türkkan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 October 1920 Istanbul |
| Died | 18 January 2010 (aged 89) |
| Citizenship | Turkish |
| Education | Lawyer |
| Alma mater | Ankara University |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, journalist |
| Movement | Pan-Turkism |
Reha Oğuz Türkkan (born 12 October 1920,[1] Istanbul – died 18 January 2010)[2] was a Turkish academic, journalist and a leading ideologue of Turkish nationalism.[3] During his lifetime, he published many books which focused on Turkish nationalism and Pan-Turkism.[4] He was the grandnephew of Fakhri Pasha.[5]
He studied Law at the Ankara University and following his graduation, he worked at the Ministry of Justice.[3]
Publishing
He began to publish the outlet Ergenekon on the 10 November 1938.[3] The Ergenekon appeared only a few times, but it was an influential outlet for Pan-Turkism as it depicted a Bozkurt (the Grey Wolf) on every front-page as well as the slogans "The Turkish race above everything" or "The Turkish race above every other race".[6] He was a fierce opponent of a fascist or communist ideology and claimed that the first country founded by race was Turkey and that it was not Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler.[6] He also published two other Pan-Turkist magazines called the Bozkurt (1939) and the Gök Börü (1942). In those magazines, he attempted to prove that the Turkish race was superior to other races due to the physical qualities and the historical accomplishments of the Turks.[7]
Views
He was in constant rivalry with Nihal Atsiz in defining the racial purity of Turkishness. Whereas Atsiz was more tolerant, Türkkan demanded a Turkish lineage of 9 generations.[8] Nevertheless, he was convinced of the Turkish origin of the Native Americans and in 1999, he even wrote the book ‘Kızılderililer ve Türkler‘ (Native Americans and Turks) which focused on the subject.[9] He led a group of racists who referred to themselves as the Bozkurtçu (In memory of the Grey Wolf) in the 1940s[3] and was prosecuted but acquitted in the Racism Turanism trial.[1][10] He defined Pan-Turkism as Turkish nationalism and as a vehicle for the establishment of a "national union" for all the Turkic people between Bulgaria to the Altai mountain range which then would strengthen Turkey as well.[11]