Reha Oğuz Türkkan (born 12 October 1920,[1]Istanbul - died 18 January 2010)[2] was 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 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]
Personal life
He was the father of four children and was married twice.[2] He died in January 2010 and was buried in the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.[1]
Works
Novels
4 İçtimai Mesele, Arkadaş Matbaası, İstanbul, 1939
Türkçülüğe Giriş, Arkadaş Matbaası, İstanbul, 1940
Irk Muhite Tabi midir?, İstanbul, 1941
(Race et Milieu), Paris, 1942
Les Summeriens et les Rites Funéraires, Paris, 1942
Les Armes Serétes, Paris-La République, 1943
Milliyetçiliğe Doğru, İstanbul, 1943
Solcular ve Kızıllar, İstanbul, 1943
Kızıl Faaliyet, İstanbul, 1944
Tabutluktan Gurbete, İstanbul, 1950-1974-1985
İleri Türkçülük ve Partiler, Rafet Zaimler, İstanbul, 1947
Correlation in Twin Psychology, New York, 1951
One America, New York, 1951
Talking Turkey, New York, 1955
Turkish Literature, New York, 1956
Türks in Retrospect, New York, 1956
Conditioned Learning, New York, 1964
Revolution in Education (Programmed Instruction & Multi-Media), New York, 1967
Progr. Instruction Based Courses (Atoms & Electrons, French I, How to Recognize Names & Faces) Chicago
Turkish National Character, New York, 1971
Kitle Halinde İşlenen Suçlarda Cezai Mesuliyet ve Kitle Psikolojisi, İstanbul, 1974
^The Racist Critics of Atatürk and Kemalism, from the 1930s to the 1960s, Ilker Aytürk (Bilkent University, Ankara), Journal of Contemporary History, SAGE Pub., 2011 [1]