Journal of Political Ideologies

[Wu Han]

Turjak nationalism

For many centuries, national identity has been a source of contestation and conflict in Jakania. Although there have been prominent movements around Kalopian nationalism and Majatran nationalism, the most significant divide for the past millennium has been over Turjak nationalism. In order to make sense of the debate, it is important to understand the historical context of the ideology as well as the cultural and linguistic distinctions that it is rooted in.

In the 13th century, the Great Empire of Turjak became the dominant power in southern Majatra with the support of the Ahmadi Caliphate. The Empire was incredibly influential in defining Jakanian cultural traditions and particularly important in the spread of Ahmadism throughout the region, both impacts which can be felt in the modern day. During this period of the country's history, it was commonplace to refer to it by some variant of the term "Turjak", a reference to the Turjak people and language who were dominant in the nobility and administrative class.

As modern nationalism developed in the region through the 19th century there developed a growing Turjak nationalist movement among the country's intelligentsia. Influenced by the Selucian unification process as well as nationalist movements in neighbouring Kalopia, the movement emphasised the distinct culture and language of the Turjak people in comparison to the region's Majatran, Kalopian and Delic populations. Through the period of the Turjak Confederation, Turjak nationalism became dominant among the nobility and various reforms were implemented in this spirit- notably as the creation of the a Selucian-based Turjak alphabet.

Within the Turjak nationalist movement there were a variety of competing conceptions of the Turjak nation. The most substantial distinction related to the other Tukaric peoples of the surrounding regions. In the present day the Turjak people form the overwhelming majority of the world's Tukaric population, with the only notable minority being the distant Zargundian people of Hobrazia. For many centuries though there were a variety of other Tukaric languages spoken throughout eastern and southern Majatra and many Turjaks aspired to unify these peoples in the creation of a single Tukaric state.

By the middle of the 19th century though things were beginning to change. Pan-Tukaric and Turjak nationalist policies brought the Confederation into direct confrontation with neighbouring countries that contained significant Turjak or Tukaric minorities as well as creating resentment among the country's own Majatran and Kalopian populations.

With the rise of Temiz Ozkan's Jakanian Populist Action Party, the tide shift substantially and the First Jakanian Republic was founded. The new Republic and its leaders explicitly rejected ethno-nationalism and irredentism. Ozkan, in particular, sought to create a new Jakanian national identity that was not rooted in any particular ethnic or linguistic identity. While the Turjak nationalist movement has not disappeared, subsequent centuries have seen a gradual shift towards a Jakanian identity among the country's population.

In the modern political sphere, Turjak nationalism is associated with reactionary and exclusionary movements. Although the Turjak population remains the largest ethnic group in the country, Jakanian culture and tradition incorporates a variety of elements from the diverse peoples that have lived in the region over many centuries and the modern Republic recognises three official languages: Kalopian, Majatran and Turjak.

The above entry in the Journal of Political Ideologies was written by Ayda Toker, a Professor of History at the Mehmed University of Diyarıvakan.

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Originally written and posted by Jamescfm on 27 June 2020.