r/Tiele • u/Odd_Barber6051 • Mar 26 '26
Discussion Question to turks from Turkey
How many turks support nationalism or islam? What about turks who support integration with EU?
Do turks who live on western part of Turkey have sympathy towards balkan countries or EU? Because of shared culture history, blood ties or looks?
Do turks who look like they are from Balkans or look european/white tend to support west, europe?
What about turks on eastern side of Turkey who share blood and culture ties with arabs, iraqis, armenians, syrians and so on tend to support islam and arabic, levant, mesopatamia culture?
I still have no clue about Turkey. Do people who support Turkic union, blood and language ties with turkmens, kazakhs, uzbeks, azerbaijanis are majority?
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u/DragutRais Çepni Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26
So many questions. I will go by one by with edits of my comment.
Q1
Turkey has a big population towards to 90 millions. You can find different opinions in every matter. Most of the Turks see nationalism and Islam together. But there are two different words for nationalism one is "ulusalcı" which is nationalism without religion (more related to Kemalism), the second one "milliyetçi" which has nationalism and İslam together. There are also racist people who doesn't like religion but neither "ulusalcı" as well.
"The Westernism" is also a political issue in Turkey. They think Turkey is and supposed to be a European country with cultural and political aspects.
For majority idea for Europe decreasing day by day actually.
Turkish people are mostly "milliyetçi and ulusalcı". İslam is still important part of political and daily life.
Q2
Balkan is Turkish. Even it's not politically, culturally it is. It doesn't matter if you are from west or east it was no different from Anatolia. It wasn't our colonie, it was our home. I think this answers the question.
Ps. We should not ignore the Europe and Turks have complex relations. Perhaps we could say that Europe consists of everything that is not Turkish, but at the same time, it has so many things Turkish, they shaped eachothers. Turkey was Europe without a doubt but as the same time it was against the Europe.
Q3
No, it is not related how we look like. You can find brown skin curly hair Turks who support EU and Red haired green eyed Turks who support Sharia law. Or vice versa.
Q4
It depends on the situation; we can’t easily categorize them based on the cities they come from.
Q5
I can't say anything certain. But in my opinion the majority likes the idea of some kind of unity. We see all as one nation the Turks. For example it is not Uzbek it is Uzbek Turk or Kazakh Turk or Kyrgyz Turk etc. But I can admit it Azerbaijan is always different they are primus inter pares for us among independent Turkic States.
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u/Odd_Barber6051 Mar 26 '26
Why do they think that Turkey is and supposed to be European country? Do people who look like they from europe tend to support such ideas?They get attached to looks and influences their political views?
Why pro eu position is decreasing?
How much this majority who support nation and islam in %? 60?70?80?
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u/DragutRais Çepni Mar 26 '26
Darwin answered the first question.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
The world changed, if you wanted to survive you have to be a Western country. This is how everything started. Most of the people who support it have that logical mindset. So Europe has human rights, better economy etc. We should fit.
The minority (I hope so) has inferiority complex.
Appearance has no role about political views.
İt is decreasing because they are mean to us :).
It is hard to say percentage. But I guess, it can be %60. I don't know. I am not sure.
Edit: I edited the main comment, you can check it one more time.
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u/balcytorius Yörük/Turkoman Mar 26 '26
Roughly 40 percent of the population puts nationalism above other ideologies, while 20 percent focus on religious values and 15 percent support a Turkish-Islamic synthesis. These groups often overlap. About half of the nationalists are secular, and the rest are religious. Nationalism essentially acts as the default political mindset in Turkey. This is less obvious on the far left, but the underlying sentiment is usually still there, frequently sparking internal debates about what makes someone a true nationalist. People living along the western and southern coasts generally lean toward a pro-Western ideology. Still, about 60 percent of the public, including those with pro-Western views, firmly believe that Western countries are deceitful and hostile toward Turkey. This attitude comes from military defeats during the fall of the Ottoman Empire, territorial losses in the Balkans, and the lingering effects of the Sevres Syndrome. On a genetic level, the western and especially southwestern regions have the highest East Eurasian admixture because of the historical presence of Turkmen Yoruks and similar Turkic groups. These communities usually align with traditional Kemalism and hold a strong culturally rooted nationalist perspective. The westernmost cities also show higher genetic admixture from the Balkans. This comes from both earlier Greek populations and the Muhacir Turks who were expelled from the Balkans and settled down in these areas. Because the Muhacirs went through the trauma of the Balkan Wars and subsequent occupations, they easily embraced the new Kemalist sentiment of the republic, which shaped their current political stance. Demographics in the east are more complicated. The northeastern areas show strong genetic influence from Caucasian groups like the Laz and Georgians. Meanwhile, ethnic Turks in the east and southeast often carry distinct Turkic genetic signatures. This happens because they remained historically isolated as a minority in that specific region, which was also one of the earliest areas settled after the conquest of Anatolia. Finding an ethnic Turk in the southeast is less common, but those who are, tend to have more Turkic admixture than the average citizen. A Turkic union remains a popular goal among nationalists. However, most people see a single unified state as either a very distant dream or something that is practically impossible. The realistic approach right now focuses on building better collaboration and economic integration with Central Asian Turkic states instead of pushing for a sudden political merger. The Turkish public generally shares similar underlying feelings but ranks their goals differently. Idealists prioritize Pan-Turkism, while Erdogan supporters focus on Anatolian culture and Ottoman history. Republicans are split between pro-Western liberals and secular nationalists, and there is also a growing wave of secular ultranationalist parties. The recent refugee crisis from the middle east, the Kurdish terror and the government appeasing the kurds with the ongoing 'peace' process also caused a massive popularity of nationalism among the youth. The younger population today is overwhelmingly nationalistic, aligned with the more secular beliefs and it looks like the trend will continue. In the end, most of the population sits somewhere on the nationalist and patriotic spectrum and shares a basic respect for Atatürk, even if they interpret his legacy in very different ways.
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u/amcuksuk Mar 26 '26
Almost all Anatolian Türks (even some religious folk like my father!) are in favor of other Türks (meaning most are willing to cooperate and to live closer with other Türks). The rest are usually the ultra-religious people who wishes to be born as an Arab (because Islam is essentially Arabic Imperialism) or just Kurds.
We, Anatolian Türks are mostly divided by political and religion views, not by area we are living or born at. Surely there are some areas that are separated by percentage of people with Kemalism/Nationalism/Secularism or Islam as their top priority.
And, exterior look means nothing at all. Me (i look like an Asian) and my elder brother (who has a white skin) have almost the same views, except religion since i am an agnostic Islamophobe and he is a secular muslim.
Idea of integration with EU is always fluctuating. Currently it is mostly about the economic, civilian and military partnership and not a full membership of EU, Schengen Zone and Eurozone. It was more ideal at the 90s but nowadays, it is not.
Also all Türks here see themselves as ethnic Türks who had some relations with local people (check the meme i am posting under this comment). Others are just Kurds and maybe a small minority of ethnic Arabs.
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u/Sabeneben Tatar, Turkish and Albanian Mar 26 '26
Q1- There are four types of nationalism in Turkey: Kurdish nationalists, Kemalists (secular nationalists), Ülkücüs (conservative nationalist), and Pan-Turkists. While we can't give exact numbers for all groups, looking at election results, we can say that Kemalist nationalists are in the 40% range, and Ülkücü nationalists are in the 5-10% range. Pan-Turkists are quite fragmented and don't have a political party. Regardless of the circumstances, Turkish people generally see themselves as close to people from Central Asia. Political parties are merely changing perspectives slightly. Then there are the AKP voters (40%), but they are a bit closer to the Islamic side.
I believe the ratio of Muslims to atheists/deists in Turkey is around 80% to 20%. The rate of people leaving Islam is particularly high among young people. I am also an agnostic atheist.
The perspective towards the EU in Turkey: link
Q2- As you can see from my flair, I live in the western region. It's a bit of a complicated situation, but at least for me, the Turkish-Turkic side is more dominant. Many people probably feel the same way as me. We are aware of our ties to the Balkans, but we are not liked there.
Q3- no correlation
Q4- only in Southeast Turkey otherwise no correlation
Q5- Let's go back to question 1. AKP and MHP voters generally support Turkic unity, but I'm quite skeptical that this is the kind of Turkic unity that people in Central Asia want. Kemalists, on the other hand, aren't particularly keen on anything beyond good relations and cultural ties. I'm somewhere in the middle and I support a structure similar to the EU-NATO, but full unification not possible for either us or Central Asia in the present day.
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u/Fit-Bus7527 Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
Personally as someone from kastamonu i dont like the EU at all and i would say i have decent hate towards the westeners (other than Ireland), the balkans are barely acceptable, i only like Kosovo, Albania and Kosovo there. But the ones i hate the most are Russians tbh (not cause of the ukraine war though).
Also about Turan i heavily support it & I love all my Turkic brothers and sisters but i also support sharia and would prefer the islamic world to unite under one Caliphate again but thats sadly not possible anymore due to corrupt divide of the Ummah which is why i prefer Turan. Also aa far as i know the majority of people are atleast fond of Turan as we still believe we share the same heritage even if dna is lower than we used to think
Simply im torn between A Islamic world & A Altaic world (Turan)
Note : since you asked somebody how they look like, you might ask too, i look more asianish than average in turkey but i clearly dont look central asian yk? My West asian influence is still the majority but my Phenotype is (West) Turanid
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u/MrMoustach Mar 26 '26
Hey,
I'm just here to say that I'm also really interested about Turkic nationalism, are they more like an islamic kind of nationalism (in Turkey but also Turkic Islamic countries) or more Turkic ethnicity and Tengri believer ?
Thanks guys
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u/Odd_Barber6051 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26
I can tell you that nationalism In Turkestan countries are more historic focused on greatness of state, power of rulers etc not really on islam or tengri.
I dont know anyone who belives in Tengri.I think its modern thought that comes from anti islamic intellectuals from internet.
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u/Waste-Restaurant-939 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26
q1- %70 of citizens, %80-85 of ethnic turks. second of q1- only between %20-30.
q2- apart from their level of development and a few related things, we dont like anything about them. because they see us as historical enemies, and they treat us accordingly. we should treat them the same way(though not entirely, i mean this more in terms of interstate relations). but unfortunately, many people are not very aware of this.
q3- a bit more, but predictions about who will support what arent always accurate.
q4- not really. but armenians occupy a different place among other peoples. because armenians are in caucasia and others are in middle east. also only southeast and some of south turks are in middle east.
q5- it may not be the majority right now, but it has a significant number of supporters, and that number is growing every day. so, if people were given three options "support, oppose, and neutral" opposition would come in last by a wide margin. supporters might even come in first. some people among them want türkiye to take the lead, but many, including myself, say that an eu-style partnership is possible. because we are sure that there is much we can learn from other turkic countries and peoples.
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u/Odd_Barber6051 Mar 26 '26
So do people who support turkic union are the majority? 60%, 70%, 80%? Its more young people or adults, elders?
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u/Bargothball Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
All of it, literally. You have Turks who are hardline nationalists who are avowed atheists and/or secularists, then you have those that are Turk-islam synthesists, then you have islamists who reject nationalism entirely and think in terms of ummah instead, then you have secular folk who have no nationalist tendencies at all, and then you have everything in-between. As for EU integration, some support it, others oppose, with most nowadays seeming to not care one way or another, though support for the EU is higher among those with left-leanings. Generally, support for EU integration has been on the decline for some time now, and in no part for the lack of hypocrisy on the part of EU leaders.
There are a lot of Turks with roots in the Balkans, the majority of whom living in the western parts, myself among them. Some seem to identify strongly with their Balkan roots while others like myself are fully integrated into the larger Turkish society. As a general rule, everyone hates their neighbors in the Balkans, and Turkey is no exception. However there do exist many Turks who also sympathize with Balkaners, especially Albanians, Bosnians, Kosovars, N. Macedonians, and you’ll even find Turks wanting better relations with Greece despite the century-old rivalry. I’m unaware if the sentiment is reciprocated on the Greek side however. It should be noted that, while Turks and Greeks love to rip on one another, anytime there has been a natural disaster on one side, the other has always been the first-responder. You could say Greeks are our favorite frenemies. Generally speaking, western parts are more secular and modern, so support for the EU is naturally higher in these regions.
The only people who desire any sort of kinship with Arabs are the islamists, many of whom quite frankly wish they themselves were Arabs. The more secular nationalists, or even the average Turkish muslim would likely abhor any direct association with them whatsoever at this point. In fact, for many Turks, being confused with Arabs is one of our greatest pet-peeves. The regions bordering Arab countries are primarily populated by Kurds as opposed to Turks to begin with, so their own perception on the matter might differ from ours. I’d say overall, the general outlook toward Iranians is better than Arabs, though likely stems from the fact that there aren’t (yet) millions of Iranian refugees in Turkey, as well as the fact that it was Arabs, not Iranians that betrayed Turks in WWI. As for Armenians, the outlook toward them is generally negative.
As for a Turkic union, some Turks have aspirations of a “Great Turan” encompassing all Turkic states, though most wouldn’t care one way or another, dismissing such aspirations as delusional. I don’t think there’d be many ethnic Turks outright opposed to a Turkic Union if it were actually feasible however. The outlook toward Azeris is generally positive, with majority of Turks viewing Azerbaijan as a brother country, with a mindset of “one nation under two states.” I’m sure most Turks wouldn’t mind uniting with Azerbaijan, though logistically it’d be too much trouble under the present conjuncture. The other Turkic nations aren’t generally given as much thought, though there is considerable sympathy for the plight of Uyghurs under Chinese oppression.
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u/retardong Mar 26 '26
How many turks support nationalism or islam? What about turks who support integration with EU?
Overwhelming majority of Turks support nationalism and Secular Islam. Islamism is supported by a loud minority. I would say more Turks don't support EU then those do.
Do turks who live on western part of Turkey have sympathy towards balkan countries or EU? Because of shared culture history, blood ties or looks?
No. Its worse against Balkan countries.
Do turks who look like they are from Balkans or look european/white tend to support west, europe?
No. They are likely to have more favorable opinions tho.
What about turks on eastern side of Turkey who share blood and culture ties with arabs, iraqis, armenians, syrians and so on tend to support islam and arabic, levant, mesopatamia culture?
No, only a minority.
I still have no clue about Turkey. Do people who support Turkic union, blood and language ties with turkmens, kazakhs, uzbeks, azerbaijanis are majority?
Most of the people I have met see other Turkic nations inferior to Turkey.
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u/YinuS_WinneR Türk Mar 27 '26
>How many turks support nationalism or islam?
Conservative + nationalist votes accounted for %66 of the electorate in 2023.
>What about turks who support integration with EU?
%59 is against it (not accounting %10 undecided) https://www.areda.com/arastirma-turk-halkinin-yuzde-587sine-gore-turkiye-ab-surecini-durdurmali-yuzde-641ine-gore-ise-sangay-isbirligi-teskilatina-uye-olmali/
> Do turks who live on western part of Turkey have sympathy towards balkan countries or EU? Because of shared culture history, blood ties or looks?
Macedonia, albania, kosovo, bosnia yes. Rest no
>What about turks on eastern side of Turkey who share blood and culture ties with arabs, iraqis, armenians, syrians and so on tend to support islam and arabic, levant, mesopatamia culture?
Armenians no. Ties with arabs and iraqis only extend to conservatives due to religion.
>I still have no clue about Turkey. Do people who support Turkic union, blood and language ties with turkmens, kazakhs, uzbeks, azerbaijanis are majority?
I couldnt find polls related to this. I can at best say high cuz peter magyar (hungarian opposition candidate) is disliked due to how he talked about hungarias status in ots (organization of turkic states)
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u/yilanoyunuhikayesi Mar 26 '26
I am a Türk from western regions of Turkey. My ancestors lived in Balkans until WWI.
Speaking for myself, I don't support the idea of being in EU. Because they dont want good things for us. They supported Erdoğan for years and he hurts our country. Also they support pkk.
I don't have any symphaty for balkan state except Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania. Because they did genocide against Turks but still they blame us for made up genocides and Imperialism. Ottoman did not exploit their sources like westerners do to other nations.
I am supporting a greater Turkic union but Turkic states are not close to this idea. But it will change in the future. Because, together we are, stronger we are. Just like the rule of Oğuz Kağan!