Ziya Gökalp

Who was Ziya Gökalp?

Ziya Gökalp was an Ottoman sociologist, writer, poet, and political activist. In 1908, after the Young Turk revolution, he adopted the pen name Gökalp, which he retained for the rest of his life. As a sociologist, Ziya Gökalp was influential in the overhaul of religious perceptions and evolving of Turkish nationalism.

Gökalp's work was particularly influential in shaping the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; his influence figured prominently in the development of Kemalism, and its legacy in the modern Republic of Turkey. Influenced by contemporary European thought, particularly by the sociological view of Emile Durkheim, Gökalp rejected Ottomanism and Islamism in favor of Turkish nationalism. He advocated a Turkification of the Ottoman Empire, by imposing the Turkish language and culture onto all the citizenry. His thought, which popularized Pan-Turkism and Turanism, has been described as a "cult of nationalism and modernization". His nationalist ideals espoused a de-identification with Ottoman Turkey's Muslim neighbors, in lieu of a supernational Turkish identity with "a territorial Northeast-orientation [to] Turkish speaking peoples".