Syed Ahmet Arvasi’s Alternative Model of Nationalism

Abstract

This paper highlights Syed Ahmet Arvasi’s ideas on an alternative model of nationalism that integrates Islam and ethnic peculiarities without discriminating against any minority groups. It also explains the profound importance of Islam in Turkish society, and how Islamic identity is interwoven with Turkishness. This research finds that Turkey has taken very concrete steps towards Westernization and consequently lost aspects of its traditional Turkish and Islamic culture. Moreover, based on the ideas of Arvasi, the research finds that the ethnocentric European ideology of nationalism was alien to the Turkish people, who had been affiliated with a multi-ethnic Islamic identity and values for centuries. The ideology of modern Turkish nationalism demanded a secular approach, creating a nation based on secular and Western values, consequently causing social discord and tensions. This study accordingly suggests, based on the ideas of Arvasi, that there should be a more inclusive alternative model of national cohesion for the Turkish nation. Also, Arvasi suggested that the basic ideology of the Turkish nation was Islam, therefore the Turkish nation’s concept of nationalism must be inherently linked to Islam. In summary, for the Turkish nation to live in social harmony, Turkish nationalism should be based on the concepts of social race and Turkish-Islamic culture.