Özet:

This article aims to demonstrate a small group of intellectuals’ thoughts on nationalism and Turkish national identity who were trying to give an answer by searching for a new and unique Turkish humanism in general and particularly former Minister of Education, Hasan Ali Yücel’s period and his humanist reformist approach to politics during the nation/identity-building process in the early decades of Republican Era. After the collapse of Ottoman Empire, establishment of Turkish Republic, Turkish modernization initially took a form of westernization. At the same time, Turkish national identity was seen as an appropriate direction for the society’s search for a new identity and The republican elite embarked a radical stand and defined Turkish identiy as western modern secular nation which later became a dominant ideology for the new republic. At the time of early years of Republic, there were seen different acceptions of contents of national identity. Hasan Ali Yücel and intellectuals searching for Turkish humanism defined modern Turkish identity by deriving it from Anatolian humanism, which could be realized through a Turkish Renaissance and claimed that it would be possible to create a unique Anatolian identity by this definition.

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