Pan-Turkism is a political movement aimed at uniting the various Turkic peoples into modern political states, closely related to Turanism.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 and continues to work for a pan-Turkic alliance.

The TOMER Institute of Ankara University, Turkey's main cultural exchange agency (similar in function to Institut Français , Goethe Institute or British Council) has taken an international lead in furthering linguistic research and teaching of Turkic languages.

The political pan-Turkic movement is linked with parallel development of theories of the racial 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. The Kemalist movement in Turkey to "clean" the Turkish language from foreign (mostly Persian and Arabic) influence and particularly the Sun Language Theory, proposed by Kemal Atatürk himself, can all be seen as part of this same intellectual climate.

Pan-Turkism is and has always been a movement viewed with suspicion by many, particularly by non-Turks. Some see it 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. Proponents see it as a way of increasing regional security, economic growth and as a viable bullwark against Islamist movements, by furthering secular and democratic government in the region.

Quotations

• "Dildä, fikirdä, işdä birlik" translated "Unity of Language, Thought and Action" by Ismail Gaspirali , 1839 a Crimean Tartar and famous member of the Turanian Society
• Ne mutlu Türküm diyene, translated "Happiness upon the one who calls himself Turk", Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

See Also:

• List of Pan-Turkists
• Pan-Slavism
• Pan Arabism
• Greater Germania
• Grossdeutschland
• Greater Albania
• Greater Poland
• Greater Romania
• Greater Serbia

External Links

• Encyclopaedia Brittanica Entry on Pan-Turkism
• Article on Pan-Turkism by Ildiko Beller Hann , German Turkologist