The New Wave of Nationalism Among Young Turks

As Turkey enters a new chapter in its political history marked by the intensification of authoritarianism, a parallel phenomenon is emerging, driven by a generation animated by a form of nationalism with distinct features. This movement is gradually asserting itself and may reshape the country’s political balances in the upcoming years.

Over the recent decades, the nationalist current that has strongly dominated the political landscape has been carried by the MHP (Nationalist Action Party) and, increasingly, by the AKP (Justice and Development Party). Particularly, the latter has progressively hardened its nationalist discourse in order to consolidate and expand its electoral base. The dominant ideological framework of these two parties took shape in the late 1970s with the ülkücü movement, which, as it underwent a process of Islamisation, became deeply influenced by the “Turkish–Islamic synthesis” promoted after September 12, 1980 military coup. This doctrine, which asserts Sunni Islam as an essential component of Turkish identity, also influenced the leadership of Turkey’s first Islamist party, the MNP (National Order Party), founded in 1970 by Necmettin Erbakan and considered as a precursor to the AKP. Inherently statist, nationalist, and conservative, this ideological synthesis currently constitutes the backbone of the MHP and has, since 2015, also shaped a significant portion of the AKP’s electoral base.