Süleyman Yalçın
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Süleyman Yalçın | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1926 |
| Died | 18 December 2016 (aged 89–90) Istanbul, Turkey |
| Education | Istanbul University |
| Years active | 1950s–2000s |
| Children | 2 |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
| Institutions | Istanbul University |
| Sub-specialties | Internal medicine |
Süleyman Yalçın (1926–2016) was a Turkish physician, academic, conservative political figure and journalist who headed a conservative nationalist think-tank called the Aydınlar Ocağı (Turkish: Intellectuals' Hearth) in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a faculty member at Istanbul University between 1952 and 1988. He is known for his active role in the formulation of the Turkish–Islamic synthesis.
He was born in Büyükanafartalar, a village of Çanakkale, in 1926.[1] After completing primary and secondary schools in his hometown, he graduated from Kabataş Boys High School in 1944 and from the Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, in 1950.[2]
Career and activities
Yalçın joined his alma mater in 1952 and completed his training in internal medicine in 1957.[3] He became a professor of pathology in 1968.[4] In the early 1960s he was involved in the establishment of the Thinkers Club (Turkish: Aydınlar Kulübü) of which ideology was a synthesis of Turkism and Islamism.[5][6] The other major members of the group included Arif Nihat Asya, Kemal Ilıcak, Tarık Buğra and Ali Fuat Başgil.[5] Yalçın was elected as the first president of the group.[6][7]
Yalçın worked at the American universities as a faculty member from 1964 to 1966 and from 1970 to1973.[4][6] Following his return Yalçın became the chair of Aydınlar Ocağı on 30 January 1974, replacing İbrahim Kafesoğlu in the post.[7][8] Yalçın was a cofounder of the association which was founded on 14 May 1970.[3][9] His tenure ended 31 May 1979.[8] Yalçın was elected to the post for a second time on 4 April 1984 and held the post until 29 June !988 when Salih Tuğ was named as the chair of Aydınlar Ocağı.[7][8] During his second term the association developed a new approach called Turkish–Islamic synthesis which shaped the Turkish right-wing politics for a long time.[3][10]
Yalçın retired from Istanbul University in 1988.[11] He published articles in various newspapers and magazines, including Büyük Doğu (1956–1959, 1972), Yeni İstiklal (1962–1963), Kök (1981–1982), Boğaziçi (1984–1986), Ortadoğu (1974) and Tercüman (1976–1988).[11] He also published a book entitled Aydınlar Ocağı ve Türk-İslâm sentezi (Turkish: Intellectuals' Hearth and Turkish–Islamic synthesis) in 1988.[12]
Views
Tayfun Atay, a Turkish academic and writer, argued in 2016 that Yalçın's views were the driving force behind the change in the official-ideological orbit of the Turkish state after the military coup of 12 September 1980.[13] Yalçın was also influential in the formation of the intellectual background of nationalist governments just before the coup through Aydınlar Ocağı which he headed.[14]
Yalçın described Turks as "Muslims who speak the Turkish language."[6] In an interview with Cumhuriyet in 1988 while serving as the chair of Aydınlar Ocağı he further argued "Turkishness and Islam have become so inextricably linked over the centuries that when a Turk loses his religion, he loses his Turkish identity."[4] He added that even if Turks do not believe in Islam, they must show respect to Islam due to the fact that "it is the religion of their nation."[4] Therefore, for him Islam has a central role in Turkish identity.[14]