Who is most bothered by saying ‘Turk’ and ‘Turkish Nation’?

From the perspective of imperialism, the most dangerous situation is for the people in countries whose underground and surface resources are being exploited to attain a national consciousness. The idea that one has the right to possess an independent, sovereign, and free state on one's own land carries a great risk!

It is no coincidence that the US Ambassador to Ankara and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack views "nation-states" as a danger to Israel's security at every opportunity, criticizing "central governments" and proposing a fragmented structure for Syria based on ethnic and sectarian lines. People living on the same land, whose national identity is discouraged, and who are pitted against each other through sub-identities and beliefs... This is exactly what they desire, and what they have achieved to some extent in certain countries!

Are their dreams for Turkey any different?

When we examine the targeting of the 1924 Constitution, the secular, unitary nation-state, and the Treaty of Lausanne, as well as the demand to redefine citizenship from this perspective, it becomes easier to see the big picture.

Is it as if they do not know the meaning contained in the Turkish identity within the Constitution? Article 66, regarding the concept of citizenship, states: "Everyone bound to the Turkish State by the bond of citizenship is a Turk." It is the name of the common national identity; Turk!

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said, "Nations that do not find their national self-consciousness become prey to other nations." He defined the nation as "a political society formed by citizens bound to each other by a unity of language, culture, and ideal (goal)." It is a fact that his following statement regarding the definition of the Turkish nation is quite unifying: "The people of Turkey who founded the Republic of Turkey are called the Turkish Nation" (Reşat Kaynar, ‘Atatürkçülük’, Atatürk Research Center Journal, Volume 2, Issue 5, March 1986, pp. 303-304).

In these days when those who say Turk, those who say Turkish Nation, are accused of racism, and when nationalism and national consciousness are used as harmful, labeling concepts by those who claim to be anti-imperialist and progressive, it is necessary to insistently emphasize Atatürk's nationalism, which is based on scientific foundations, and Turkish nationalism, which protects the Turkish identity while modernizing.

We will not tire of writing and saying it: Identity politics pursued on the basis of ethnicity, belief, and sect will lead to troubles that are difficult to compensate for. The name of the scenario applied in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Libya, and previously in Yugoslavia right next to us is the Greater Middle East Project (GMEP). In a sense, it is ‘Greater Israel’.

Atatürk's nationalism, which is an "ideal of democratic integration" (Cihan Dura), is the name of the mortar that keeps us together and alive against projects like the GMEP and all dangers in the age of imperialism, also called the New World Order!

Let us not forget!

I celebrate our August 30 Victory Day, one of the most important milestones of our War of Independence, our sovereignty, and our independence, which became a beacon of hope for oppressed nations against imperialism. I commemorate our eternal leader, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of our Great Victory, his comrades-in-arms, and all our martyrs and veterans with respect, gratitude, and mercy.