View source for Turanism

{{Short description|Pseudoscientific pan-nationalist movement}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Essay-like|date=January 2024}}
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{{wikt|Turanism}}
[[File:Linguistic map of the Altaic, Turkic and Uralic languages (en).png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of Eurasia showing the "Altaic" and Uralic language-speaking regions, which are united under the "Turanian" theory.]]
'''Turanism''', also known as '''Turanianism''', '''pan-Turanism''' or '''pan-Turanianism''', is a [[Pan-nationalism|pan-nationalist]] political movement built around [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] claims of [[mongoloid|biological]] and [[Altaic|linguistic]] connections between various ethnic groups of [[Eurasia]]. It revolves around the abandoned proposal of a [[Ural-Altaic languages|Ural-Altaic language family]], which hypothesizes that the [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]], [[Mongolic peoples|Mongolic]], [[Tungusic peoples|Tungusic]], and [[Uralic languages|Uralic]] peoples share [[Inner Asia|Inner]] and [[Central Asia]]n origins and therefore close cultural, ethnic, and linguistic bonds. Supporters of Turanism propose political unity among these groups, chiefly to oppose the cultural and political influences of the [[Indo-European]]s of [[Europe]], [[West Asia]], and [[South Asia]], as well as the [[Sino-Tibetan]]s of [[East Asia]]. The movement emerged in the 19th century to counter [[Pan-nationalism|pan-nationalist]] ideologies such as [[pan-Germanism]],<ref name="Farkas">{{cite news|url=http://www.valosagonline.hu/index.php?oldal=cikk&cazon=904&lap=0 |author-last=Farkas |author-first=Ildikó |title=A magyar turanizmus török kapcsolatai |trans-title=The Turkish connections of Hungarian Turanism |language=hu |publisher=www.valosagonline.hu [Valóság (2013 I.-IV)] |year=2013 |access-date=7 March 2014}}</ref> and built upon the ideas of [[pan-Slavism]] (e.g. the idea of a "Turanian brotherhood and collaboration" was borrowed from the pan-Slavic concept of "Slavic brotherhood and collaboration").

== Origins and definitions ==
[[File:Max Müller's Northern Division of Turanian Languages.png|thumb|180px|[[Max Müller]]'s northern division of [[Turanian languages]]. ]]

The concept of a Ural-Altaic ethnic and language family goes back to the linguistic theories of [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]]; in his opinion there was no better method for specifying the relationship and origin of the various peoples of the Earth, than the comparison of their languages. In his ''Brevis designatio meditationum de originibus gentium ductis potissimum ex indicio linguarum'',<ref>{{cite book|author-last=Leibniz |author-first=Gottfried Wilhelm |title=Brevis designatio meditationum de originibus gentium ductis potissimum ex indicio linguarum |trans-title=A brief summary of the thoughts on the origins of the nations drawn mainly from the information of languages |language=la |date=1710 |url=https://edoc.bbaw.de/files/956/Leibniz_Brevis.pdf}}</ref> written in 1710, he originates every human language from one common ancestor language. Over time, this ancestor language split into two families: the Japhetic and the Aramaic. The Japhetic family split even further, into Scythian and Celtic branches. The members of the [[Scythian]] family were: the Greek language, the family of Sarmato-Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, Czech, Dalmatian, Bulgar, Slovene, Avar), the family of Turkic languages (Turkish, [[Cumans|Cuman]], Kalmyk and Mongolian), the family of Finnic languages (Finnish, Saami, Hungarian, Estonian, Liv and Samoyed). Although his theory and grouping were far from perfect, it had a tremendous effect on the development of linguistic research, especially in German speaking countries.

The term "[[Turan]]" is of Iranian origin<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Tūrān |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_COM_0206 |date=1913–1936 |editor-last1=Houtsma |editor-first1=M. Th. |edition=First |doi=10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_COM_0206 |quote=an Iranian term applied to the country to the north-east of Iran. |editor-first2=T.W. |editor-last2=Arnold |editor-first3=R. |editor-last3=Basset |editor-first4=R. |editor-last4=Hartmann|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=van Donzel |first=Emeri |url=https://archive.org/details/islamicdeskrefer00donz_0 |title=Islamic Reference Desk |publisher=Brill Academic |year=1994 |isbn=9789004097384 |page=[https://archive.org/details/islamicdeskrefer00donz_0/page/461 461] |quote=Iranian term applied to region lying to the northeast of Iran and ultimately indicating very vaguely the country of the Turkic peoples. |url-access=registration}}</ref> and is believed to have referred to a prehistorical [[Turya (Avesta)|human society]] in Central Asia. The term was widely used in scientific literature from the 18th century onwards to denote Central Asia. European scholars borrowed the term from the historical works of [[Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur]]; the annotated English translation of his [[Shajara-i_Tarākima|''Shajare-i Türk'']] was published in 1729 and quickly became an oft-used source for European scholars.
[[File:Ázsia és Európa nyelvei nyelvtani alapeveik szerint elrendezve Friedrich Max Müller 1854-ben kiadott Letter to Chevalier Bunsen on the classification of the Turanian languages című munkájában.png|thumb|180px|The languages of Asia and Europe arranged according to their grammatical principles in Max Müller's ''Letter to Chevalier Bunsen on the classification of the Turanian languages'', published in 1854. ]]
[[Friedrich Max Müller]], the German Orientalist and philologist, published and proposed a new grouping of the non-Aryan and non-Semitic Asian languages in 1855. In his work ''The Languages of the Seat of War in the East'', he called these languages "Turanian". Müller divided this group into two subgroups, the Southern Division and the Northern Division.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/languagesseatwa00mlgoog |title=The languages of the seat of war in the East. With a survey of the three families of language, Semitic, Arian and Turanian|date=1855}} MÜLLER, Friedrich Max. ''The languages of the seat of war in the East. With a survey of the three families of language, Semitic, Arian and Turanian.'' Williams and Norgate, London, 1855. https://archive.org/details/languagesseatwa00mlgoog
</ref> In the long run, his evolutionist theory about languages' structural development, tying growing grammatical refinement to socio-economic development, and grouping languages into 'antediluvian', 'familial', 'nomadic', and 'political' developmental stages,<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Müller | first1 = Friedrich Max | title = Letters to Chevalier Bunsen on the classification of the Turanian languages | date = 1854 | place = London | publisher = A. & G.A. Spottiswoode | url = https://archive.org/details/cu31924087972182 | access-date = 30 September 2024 }}</ref> proved unsound. Nonetheless, his terminology stuck, and the terms 'Turanian peoples' and 'Turanian languages' became parts of common parlance. Another proposed group, the Ural-Altaic languages, was later derived from Müller's Northern Division subgroup.

Like the term [[Aryan]] is used for Indo-European, Turanian is used chiefly as a linguistic term, synonymous with Ural-Altaic.<ref>M. Antoinette Czaplicka, The Turks of Central Asia in History and at the Present Day, Elibron, 2010, p. 19.</ref> However, the Ural-Altaic theory has been scientifically disproven. Concepts of areal linguistics and typology even if in a genetic sense of these terms might be considered as obsolete.<ref>BROWN, Keith and OGILVIE, Sarah eds.:Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. 2009. p. 722.</ref>

Turanism originated in the work of the Finnish nationalist and linguist [[Matthias Castrén|Matthias Alexander Castrén]], who championed the ideology. He concluded that the Finns originated in Central Asia (more specifically in the [[Altai Mountains]]) and far from being a small isolated people, they were part of a larger polity that included such peoples as the [[Hungarians|Magyars]], Turks, and Mongols.<ref>EB on Matthias Alexander Castrén. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/98799/Matthias-Alexander-Castren</ref> It implies not only the unity of all [[Turkic peoples]] (as in [[pan-Turkism]]), but also the alliance of a wider Ural-Altaic family believed to include all speakers of the "[[Turanian languages]]".

Although Turanism is a political movement for the union of all Ural-Altaic peoples, there are different opinions about the movement's inclusivity.<ref>{{cite web |date=8 May 2016 |title=Turancılık – (H. Nihal ATSIZ) – Ulu Türkçü Nihal ATSIZ Otağı – Türkçülük – Turancılık ve Hüseyin Nihal Atsız |trans-title=Turanism – (H. Nihal ATSIZ) – The Great Turkist Nihal ATSIZ Post – Turkism – Turanism and Hüseyin Nihal Atsız |url=http://www.nihal-atsiz.com/yazi/turancilik-h-nihal-atsiz.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816063029/http://www.nihal-atsiz.com/yazi/turancilik-h-nihal-atsiz.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=August 16, 2010 |website=www.nihal-atsiz.com |language=tr}}</ref> The early Turanist [[Ziya Gökalp]] opined that Turanism is for Turkic peoples only, as other Turanian peoples (Finns, Hungarians, Mongolians and so on) are too different culturally.<ref>Türkçülüğün Esasları pg.25 (Gökalp, Ziya)</ref> In contrast, his contemporary [[Lothrop Stoddard]] gave the following description during [[World War I]]:<blockquote>Right across northern Europe and Asia, from the Baltic to the Pacific and from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean, there stretches a vast band of peoples to whom ethnologists have assigned the name of "Uralo-Altaic race", but who are more generally termed "Turanians". This group embraces the most widely scattered folk—the [[Ottoman Turks]] of [[Istanbul|Constantinople]] and [[Anatolia]], the [[Turkmen people|Turcomans]] of [[Central Asia]] and [[Persia]], the [[Tatars]] of South [[Russia]] and [[Transcaucasia]], the [[Hungarians|Magyars]] of [[Hungary]], the [[Finns]] of [[Finland]] and the [[Baltic region|Baltic provinces]], the [[Indigenous peoples|aboriginal tribes]] of [[Siberia]] and even the distant [[Mongols]] and [[Manchu people|Manchus]]. Diverse though they are in culture, tradition, and even physical appearance, these peoples nevertheless possess certain well-marked traits in common. Their languages are all similar, and, what is of even more import, their physical and mental make-up displays undoubted affinities.<ref>{{cite journal |date=1917 |title=Pan-Turanism |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S000305540010557X/type/journal_article |journal=American Political Science Review |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=16 |doi=10.2307/1944138 |issn=0003-0554 |jstor=1944138 |s2cid=251097785 |author-last=Stoddard |author-first=T. Lothrop|url-access=subscription }}</ref></blockquote>

== By region ==

=== Europe ===
==== Finland ====
Turanism has its roots in the Finnish nationalist Fennophile and [[Fennoman movement]], and in the works of Finnish nationalist and linguist [[Matthias Castrén|Matthias Alexander Castrén]]. Castrén conducted more than seven years of fieldwork in western and southern Siberia between 1841 and 1849. His extensive field materials focus on Ob-Ugric, Samoyedic, [[Yeniseian languages|Ketic]], and Turkic languages. He collected valuable ethnographic information, especially on shamanism. Based on his research, he claimed that the Finnic, Ugric, Samoyed, Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic languages were all of the same 'Altaic family'. He concluded that the [[Finns]] originated in [[Central Asia]] (in the [[Altai Mountains]]), and far from being a small, isolated people, they were part of a larger polity that included such peoples as the [[Hungarians|Magyars]], [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], [[Mongols]], and so on. Based on his research, he championed the ideology of Turanism, the belief in the ethnic unity and the future greatness of the Ural-Altaic peoples. As Castrén put it:

{{cquote|I am determined to show the Finnish nation that we are not a solitary people from the bog, living in isolation from the world and from universal history, but are in fact related to at least one-sixth of mankind. Writing grammars is not my main goal, but without the grammars that goal cannot be attained.<ref name="Łukasz Sommer">SOMMER, Łukasz: Historical Linguistics Applied: Finno-Ugric Narratives in Finland and Estonia. in: The Hungarian Historical Review. Vol. 3. Issue 2. 2014. http://hunghist.org/images/volumes/Volume3_Issue_2/Lukasz.pdf</ref>}}

Castrén was of the opinion that Russia was seeking systematically to prevent all development towards freer conditions in Finland, and concluded from this that the Finns must begin to prepare a revolt against Russia. According to him, it was to be linked with a favourable international crisis and would be realised as a general revolt against Russian rule, in which the non-Russian peoples from the Turks and Tatars to the Finns would take part. This political vision of his was shared by some other intellectuals.<ref>PAASVIRTA, Juhani: Finland and Europe: The Period of Autonomy and the International Crises, 1808–1914 1981. p. 68.</ref> Fennomans like [[Elias Lönnrot]] and [[Zachris Topelius]] shared this or an even bolder vision of coming greatness. As Topelius put it:

{{cquote|Two hundred years ago few would have believed that the Slavic tribe would attain the prominent (and constantly growing) position it enjoys nowadays in the history of culture. What if one day the Finnish tribe, which occupies a territory almost as vast, were to play a greater role on the world scene than one could expect nowadays? [...] Today people speak of Pan-Slavism; one day they may talk of Pan-Fennicism, or Pan-Suomism. Within such a Pan-Finnic community, the Finnish nation should hold the leading position because of its cultural seniority [...].<ref name="Łukasz Sommer"/>}}

==== Hungary ====
{{main|Hungarian Turanism}}
Hungarian Turanism ({{langx|hu|Turanizmus}}) was a Romantic nationalist cultural and political movement which was most active from the second half of the 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.<ref name="Farkas"/> It was based on the age old and still living national tradition about the Asian origins of the [[Magyar tribes|Magyars]]. This tradition was preserved in medieval chronicles (such as [[Gesta Hungarorum]]<ref>Anonymus: Gesta Hungarorum. http://mek.oszk.hu/02200/02245/02245.htm</ref> and [[Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum]],<ref>Kézai Simon mester Magyar krónikája. http://mek.oszk.hu/02200/02249/02249.htm</ref> and the [[Chronicon Pictum]]) as early as the 13th century. This tradition served as the starting point for the scientific research about the ethnogenesis of the [[Hungarians|Hungarian people]], which began in the 18th century, both in [[Hungary]] and abroad. [[Sándor Kőrösi Csoma]] (the writer of the first Tibetan-English dictionary) traveled to Asia in the strong belief that he could find the kindred of the Magyars in [[Turkestan]], amongst the [[Uyghur people|Uyghurs]].<ref name="mek.oszk.hu">Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon. http://mek.oszk.hu/00300/00355/html/index.html</ref> As a scientific movement, Turanism was concerned with the research about Asia and its culture in the context of Hungarian history and culture. Political Turanism was born in the 19th century, in response to the growing influence of [[Pan-Germanism]] and [[Pan-Slavism]], which were seen by Hungarians as very dangerous to the state and nation of Hungary because the country had large ethnic German and Slavic populations.<ref name="Farkas"/> Political Turanism was a romantic nationalist movement, which accentuated the importance of the common ancestry and the cultural affinity of the Hungarians with the peoples of the Caucasus, Inner and Central Asia, like the Turks, Mongols, Parsi and the like, and called for closer collaboration and political alliance with them, as a means to secure and further shared interests, and counter the imminent threats posed by the policies of Western powers like Germany, the British Empire, France and Russia.

The idea of a Hungarian Oriental Institute originated with Jenő Zichy.<ref>VINCZE Zoltán: Létay Balázs, a magyar asszirológia legszebb reménye
http://www.muvelodes.ro/index.php/Cikk?id=155</ref> This idea did not come true. Instead, a kind of lyceum was formed in 1910, called ''Turáni Társaság'' (Hungarian Turan Society, also called Hungarian Asiatic Society). The Turan society concentrated on Turan as geographic location where the ancestors of Hungarians might have lived.

The movement received impetus after Hungary's defeat in World War I. Under the terms of the [[Treaty of Trianon]] (1920), the new Hungarian state constituted only 32.7% of the territory of historic, pre-treaty Hungary, and it lost 58.4% of its total population. More than 3.2 million ethnic Hungarians (one-third of all Hungarians) resided outside the new boundaries of Hungary in the successor states under oppressive conditions.<ref>PORTIK Erzsébet-Edit: Erdélyi magyar kisebbségi sorskérdések a két világháború között. In: Iskolakultúra 2012/9. p. 60-66. http://epa.oszk.hu/00000/00011/00168/pdf/EPA00011_Iskolakultura_2012-9_060-066.pdf</ref> Old Hungarian cities of great cultural importance like Pozsony (a former capital of the country), Kassa, and Kolozsvár (present-day [[Bratislava]], [[Košice]], and [[Cluj-Napoca]] respectively) were lost. Under these circumstances, no Hungarian government could survive without seeking justice for both the Magyars and Hungary. Reuniting the Magyars became a crucial point in public life and on the political agenda. Outrage led many to reject Europe and turn towards the East in search of new friends and allies in a bid to revise the unjust terms of the treaty and restore the integrity of Hungary.

{{cquote|Disappointment towards Europe caused by 'the betrayal of the West in Trianon', and the pessimistic feeling of loneliness, led different strata in society towards Turanism. They tried to look for friends, kindred peoples and allies in the East so that Hungary could break out of its isolation and regain its well deserved position among the nations. A more radical group of conservative, rightist people, sometimes even with an anti-Semitic hint propagated sharply anti-Western views and the superiority of Eastern culture, the necessity of a pro-Eastern policy, and development of the awareness of Turanic [[Racialism (racial categorization)|racialism]] among Hungarian people.<ref>UHALLEY, Stephen and WU, Xiaoxin eds.: ''China and Christianity. Burdened Past, Hopeful Future.'' 2001. p. 219.</ref>}}

On 1 June 1924, the ''Magyar-Nippon Társaság'' (Hungarian-Japanese Society) was founded by private persons in order to strengthen Hungarian-Japanese cultural relations and exchanges.<ref>FARKAS Ildikó: A Magyar-Nippon Társaság. In: Japanológiai körkép. 2007. http://real.mtak.hu/34745/1/Farkas_Magyar_Nippon_Tarsasag_u.pdf</ref>

Turanism was never embraced officially because it was not in accord with the Christian conservative ideological background of the regime, but it was used by the government as an informal tool to break the country's international isolation, and build alliances. Hungary signed treaties of friendship and collaboration with the [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]] in 1923,<ref>1924. évi XVI. törvénycikk a Török Köztársasággal Konstantinápolyban 1923. évi december hó 18. napján kötött barátsági szerződés becikkelyezéséről. http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=7599 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326231957/https://1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=7599 |date=2017-03-26 }}</ref> with the [[Estonia|Republic of Estonia]] in 1937,<ref>1938. évi XXIII. törvénycikk a szellemi együttműködés tárgyában Budapesten, 1937. évi október hó 13. napján kelt magyar-észt egyezmény becikkelyezéséről. http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=8078 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092915/http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=8078 |date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> with the [[Finland|Republic of Finland]] in 1937,<ref>1938. évi XXIX. törvénycikk a szellemi együttműködés tárgyában Budapesten, 1937. évi október hó 22. napján kelt magyar-finn egyezmény becikkelyezéséről. http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=8084 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060755/http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=8084 |date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> with [[Japan]] in 1938,<ref>1940. évi I. törvénycikk a Budapesten, 1938. évi november hó 15. napján kelt magyar-japán barátsági és szellemi együttműködési egyezmény becikkelyezéséről. http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=8115 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060744/http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=8115 |date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> and with [[Bulgaria]] in 1941.<ref>1941. évi XVI. törvénycikk a szellemi együttműködés tárgyában Szófiában az 1941. évi február hó 18. napján kelt magyar-bolgár egyezmény becikkelyezéséről. http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=8169 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070347/http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3&param=8169 |date=2016-03-04 }}</ref>

After World War II, the Soviet Red Army occupied Hungary. The Hungarian government was placed under the direct control of the administration of the occupying forces. All Turanist organisations were disbanded by the government{{cn|date=August 2024}}, and the majority of Turanist publications was banned and confiscated. In 1948, Hungary was converted into a communist one-party state. Turanism was portrayed and vilified as an exclusively fascist ideology although Turanism's role in the interwar development of far-right ideologies was negligible.<ref>"While Turanism was and remained little more than a fringe ideology of the Right, the second orientation of the national socialists, pan-Europaism, had a number of adherents, and was adopted as the platform of several national socialist groups." JANOS, Andrew C.: ''The Politics of Backwardness in Hungary'', 1825–1945. 1982. p.275.</ref>

==== Turkey ====
Traditional history cites its early origins amongst Ottoman officers and intelligentsia studying and residing in 1870s [[Imperial Germany]]. The fact that many Ottoman Turkish officials were becoming aware of their sense of "Turkishness" is beyond doubt of course, and the role of subsequent nationalists, such as [[Ziya Gökalp]] is fully established historically. As the Turkish historian Hasan Bülent Paksoy put it, an aspiration emerged that the [[Turkic peoples]] might "form a political entity stretching from the [[Altai Mountains]] in [[Eastern Asia]] to the [[Bosphorus]]".<ref>Paksoy, H.B., ‘Basmachi’: Turkestan National Liberation Movement 1916-1930s – Modern Encyclopedia of Religions in Russia and the Soviet Union, Florida: Academic International Press, 1991, Vol. 4</ref> During the late 19th century, the works of renowned Hungarian [[Oriental studies|Orientalist]] and linguist [[Ármin Vámbéry]] contributed to the spreading of [[Turkish nationalism]] and Turanism. Vámbéry was employed by the [[British Foreign office]] as an advisor and agent. He was paid well for his accounts about his meetings with members of the Ottoman elite and Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]], and for his essays concerning Ottoman politics.<ref>CSIRKÉS Ferenc: Nemzeti tudomány és nemzetközi politika Vámbéry Ármin munkásságában. http://www.matud.iif.hu/2013/08/07.htm</ref> The Ottoman Empire fell into ever deepening decline during the 19th century. There were reform and modernization attempts as early as the 1830s ([[Tanzimat]]), but the country was lowered to an almost semi-colonial state at the turn of the century (the state accumulated an enormous amount of debt and state finances were placed under [[Ottoman Public Debt Administration|direct foreign control]]), and the great powers freely preyed on her, occupying or annexing parts of her territory at will (e.g. [[Cyprus]]). At the time, the [[Russian Empire|Russian]] and [[British Empire|British]] empires were antagonists in the so-called "[[Great Game]]" to cultivate influence in Persia and [[Central Asia]] (Turkestan). Russia and Britain systematically fanned the rivalling nationalisms of the multi-ethnic empire for their own ends,<ref>ERICKSON, Edward J.: Ottomans and Armenians. 2013.</ref><ref>GORECZKY Tamás: Egy görög-török konfliktus története a 19. századból – az 1896-97-es krétai válság az osztrák-magyar diplomáciai iratok tükrében http://real.mtak.hu/19319/1/17-GoretzkyTamas.pdf</ref> and this led to the strengthening of Turkish nationalism as a result. The nationalist movement of the [[Young Turks]] aimed for a secularized nation-state, and constitutional government in a parliamentary democracy.

The political party of the Young Turks, the [[Committee of Union and Progress]], embraced Turanism, and a glorification of [[Turkish people|Turkish]] ethnic identity, and was devoted to protecting the Turkic peoples living under foreign rule (most of them under Russian rule as a result of Russia's enormous territorial expansion during the 16th and 19th centuries), and to restoring the [[Ottoman Empire]]'s shattered national pride.<ref>Caravans to Oblivion: The Armenian Genocide, 1915 (Hardcover) by G. S. Graber</ref>

The Turkish version of Turanism was summed up by American politicians at the time of First World War as follows: "It has been shown above that the Turkish version of Turanism contains two general ideas: (a) To purify and strengthen the Turkish nationality within the Ottoman Empire, and (b) to link up the Ottoman Turks with the other Turks in the world. These objects were first pursued in the cultural sphere by a private group of 'Intellectuals', and promoted by peaceful propaganda. After 1913, they took on a political form and were incorporated in the programme of the C.U.P.",<ref>{{cite book|author=President (1913–1921 : Wilson). The Inquiry. 1917-12/1918 |title=Records of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, 1914 – 1931 |publisher=Series: Special Reports and Studies, 1917 – 1918 Record Group 256: Records of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, 1914 – 1931 |page=7 |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/27015264|date=1917–1918|series=Series: Special Reports and Studies, 1917 – 1918}}</ref> but Ottoman defeat in World War I briefly undermined the notion of Turanism.<ref>{{cite book|title=Current History |publisher=[[New York Times Company]] |volume=11 |date=1920 |location=New York City |pages=335 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JapDAQAAMAAJ}}</ref>

After World War I, Turkish nationalists and Turanists joined the [[Basmachi movement]] in Central Asia, to help their struggle against the Soviets. The most prominent amongst them was [[Enver Pasha]], the former Ottoman war minister.

Turanism forms an important aspect of the [[ideology]] of the modern Turkish [[Nationalist Movement Party]] (MHP), whose youth movement is informally known as the [[Grey Wolves (organization)|Grey Wolves]]. Grey Wolf (the mother wolf [[Asena]]) was the main symbol of the ancient [[Turkic peoples]].

In the wake of the Turkish-assisted victory by Azerbaijan in its war with Armenia in 2020, "a certain 'Turan' (greater Turkic world) euphoria took hold on social media," Tanchum, a senior fellow at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy and a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said.<ref>{{cite web|title=Turkey's 'Turkic world' ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Turkey-s-Turkic-world-ambitions-face-reality-check-in-Kazakhstan |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Nikkei Asia |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Americas ===
Some Pan-Turanists proposed that [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] may have possible genetic and linguistic connection with the Turkic and other nomadic tribes in Asia. They have pointed to Native American culture, dance, and customs as being similar to those found in Siberia and Northeast Asia, although since changed after the migration of the Native Americans from [[Siberia]] to the Americas; examples of Native American peoples whose customs are cited include [[Melungeon]] people, as well as the [[Inuit]] and [[Quechua people|Quechua]].<ref>{{cite web |date=25 June 2008 |title=Turks and American Indians |url=https://louisproyect.org/2008/06/25/turks-and-american-indians/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617012956/http://louisproyect.org/2008/06/25/turks-and-american-indians/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=June 17, 2013 }}</ref>

==Pseudoscientific theories==
{{See|Pseudo-Turkology}}

Turanism has been characterized by pseudoscientific theories.<ref name="Nagy">{{cite book |author-last=Nagy |author-first=Zsolt |author-link= |year=2017 |title=Great Expectations and Interwar Realities: Hungarian Cultural Diplomacy, 1918–1941 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9ovDwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Central European University Press]] |page=98 |isbn=978-9633861943}}</ref><ref name="Spectrum">{{cite web |url=http://hungarianspectrum.org/2018/08/13/the-flowering-of-pseudo-science-in-orbans-hungary/ |url-access= |title=The Flowering of Pseudo-Science In Orbán's Hungary |date=13 August 2018 |website=[[Hungarian Spectrum]]}}</ref> According to other opinions the scientific work of the scholar members (like Jenő Cholnoky, Lajos Ligeti, [[Zoltán Felvinczi Takács]] and others) of the Hungarian Turanian Society belonged to the frontline of the scientific life of the era.<ref>FAJCSÁK Györgyi: Keleti Művészeti Kiállítás. Keleti magángyűjtemények, kínai tárgyak a két világháború között Budapesten. In: Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából. 34. 2009.http://epa.oszk.hu/02100/02120/00034/pdf/ORSZ_BPTM_TBM_34_185.pdf</ref> According to the Turanian or Ural-Altaic kinship theories, "Turanians" include [[Bulgarians]], [[Estonians]], [[Mongols]], [[Finns]], and [[Turkic peoples|Turks]].<ref name="Nagy"/> Though the underlying scientific theories are widely questioned or rejected in contemporary scholarship, Turanism still has extensive support in certain Turkic-speaking countries. Referred to as [[Pseudo-Turkology|Pseudo-Turkologists]],<ref name="Frankle">{{cite book |author-last=Frankle |author-first=Elanor |author-link= |year=1948 |title=Word formation in the Turkic languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-JMAAAAMAAJ |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |page=2}}</ref> these scholars stamp all [[Eurasian nomads]] and major civilizations in history as being of Turkic or Turanian origin.<ref name="Simonian">{{cite book |author-last=Simonian |author-first=Hovann |author-link=Hovann Simonian |year=2007 |title=The Hemshin: History, Society and Identity in the Highlands of Northeast Turkey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cl6QAgAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=354 |isbn=978-0230297326|quote=Thus, ethnic groups or populations of the past (Huns, Scythians, Sakas, Cimmerians, Parthians, Hittites, Avars and others) who have disappeared long ago, as well as non-Turkic ethnic groups living in present-day Turkey, have come to be labeled Turkish, Proto-Turkish or Turanian}}</ref> In such countries, Turanism has served as a form of national therapy, helping its proponents cope with the failures of the past.<ref name="SB">{{cite book |author-last1=Sheiko |author-first1=Konstantin |author-link1= |author-last2=Brown |author-first2=Stephen |author-link2= |year=2014 |title=History as Therapy: Alternative History and Nationalist Imaginings in Russia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vY00DwAAQBAJ |publisher=ibidem Press |pages=61–62 |isbn=978-3838265650 |quote=According to Adzhi, Huns, Alans, Goths, Burgundians, Saxons, Alemans, Angles, Langobards and many of the Russians were ethnic Turks (p. 161). The list of non-Turks is relatively short and seems to comprise only Jews, Chinese, Armenians, Greeks, Persians, and Scandinavians... Mirfatykh Zakiev, a Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Tatar ASSR and professor of philology who has published hundreds of scientific works, argues that proto-Turkish is the starting point of the Indo-European languages. Zakiev and his colleagues claim to have discovered the Tatar roots of the Sumerian, ancient Greek and Icelandic languages and deciphered Etruscan and Minoan writings.}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Altaic languages]]
*[[Division of the Mongol Empire]]
*[[Eurasianism]]
*[[Gog and Magog]]
*[[Greater Finland]]
*[[Great Kurultáj]]
*[[Heimosodat]]
*[[Pan-Asianism]]
*[[Racism-Turanism trials]]
*[[Sun Language Theory]]
*[[Tartary]]
*[[Turan Group]]
*[[Turco-Mongol]]s
*[[Turkic migration]]
*[[Uralic neopaganism]]

== References and notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Arnakis|first=George G.|title=Turanism: An Aspect of Turkish Nationalism|journal=Balkan Studies|volume=1|year=1960|pages=19–32|url=https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/download/5073/5102}}
*Atabaki, Touraj (2000). Azerbaijan: Ethnicity and the Struggle for Power in Iran.
* {{cite magazine |last1=Farrok |first1=Kaveh |title=Pan-Turanianism Takes Aim at Azerbaijan: A Geopolitical Agenda |url=http://www.rozanehmagazine.com/NoveDec05/aazariINDEX.HTML |magazine=Rozaneh}}
*Landau, J.M. (1995). Pan-Turkism: From Irredentism to Cooperation. London: Hurst.
*Lewis, B. (1962). The Emergence of Modern Turkey. London: Oxford University Press.
*Lewis, B. (1998). The Multiple identities of the Middle East. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
*{{Cite EB1922 |last=Macdonell |first=Arthur Anthony |author-link=Arthur Anthony Macdonell |wstitle=Pan-Turanianism |short=x}}
*Paksoy, H.B. (1991). ‘Basmachi’: TurkestanNational Liberation Movement 1916-1930s. In Modern Encyclopedia of Religions in Russia and the Soviet Union (Vol 4). Florida: Academic International Press. [http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-6/ ESSAYS ON CENTRAL ASIA by H.B. PAKSOY | CARRIE Books]
* Pekesen, Berna (2019), [http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/transnational-movements-and-organisations/international-organisations-and-congresses/pan-ideologies/berna-pekesen-pan-turkism?set_language=en&-C= ''Pan-Turkism''], [http://www.ieg-ego.eu/ EGO – European History Online], Mainz: [http://www.ieg-mainz.de/likecms/index.php Institute of European History], retrieved: March 17, 2021 ([https://d-nb.info/1194979122/34 pdf]).
*Poulton, H. (1997). Top Hat, Grey Wolf, and Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the Turkish Republic. London, England: Hurst.
*Richards, G. (1997). ‘Race’, Racism and Psychology: Towards a Reflexive History. Routledge.
*Richards Martin, Macaulay Vincent, Hickey Eileen, Vega Emilce, Sykes Bryan, Guida Valentina, Rengo Chiara, Sellitto Daniele, Cruciani Fulvio, Kivisild Toomas, Villerns Richard, Thomas Mark, Rychkov Serge, Rychkov Oksana, Rychkov Yuri, Golge Mukaddes, Dimitrov Dimitar, Hill Emmeline, Bradley Dan, Romano Valentino, Cail Francesco, Vona Giuseppe, Demaine Andrew, Papiha Surinder, Triantaphyllides Costas, Stefanescu Gheorghe, Hatina Jiri, Belledi Michele, Di Rienzo Anna, Novelletto Andrea, Oppenheim Ariella, Norby Soren, Al-Zaheri Nadia, Santachiara-Benerecetti Silvana, Scozzari Rosaria, Torroni Antonio, & Bandelt Hans Jurgen. (2000). Tracing European founder lineages in the Near Eastern mtDNA pool. American Journal of Human Genetics, 67, p.&nbsp;1251–1276.
*Said, E. (1979). Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books.
*Searle-White, J. (2001). The Psychology of Nationalism. Palgrave Macmillan.
*[[Arnold J. Toynbee|Toynbee, A.J.]] (1917). Report on the Pan-Turanian Movement. London: Intelligence Bureau Department of Information, Admiralty, L/MIL/17/16/23.
* {{cite journal |last1=Stoddard |first1=T. Lothrop |title=Pan-Turanism |journal=The American Political Science Review |date=1917 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=12–23 |doi=10.2307/1944138 |jstor=1944138 |s2cid=251097785 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1944138 |issn=0003-0554|url-access=subscription }}
*[[Serge Aleksandr Zenkovsky|Zenkovsky, Serge A.]] (1960). Pan-Turkism and Islam in Russia. Cambridge-Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
*[[Zbyněk Zeman|Zeman, Zbynek]] & Scharlau, Winfried (1965), The merchant of revolution. The life of Alexander Israel Helphand (Parvus). London: Oxford University Press. See especially pages 125–144. {{ISBN|0-19-211162-0}} {{ISBN|978-0192111623}}
{{refend}}

{{Turkic topics}}
{{Pan-nationalist concepts}}
{{Ethnic nationalism}}
{{Authority control}}

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