Ahmet Nejdet Sançar (May 1, 1910 – February 22, 1975) was a Turkish

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

teacher, who became one of the prominent personalities of the

Pan-Turkist Pan-Turkism is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey), with its aim bei ...

ideology. He was the younger brother of another notable

Turkish nationalist Turkish nationalism ( tr, Türk milliyetçiliği) is a political ideology that promotes and glorifies the Turkish people, as either a national, ethnic, or linguistic group. The term "ultranationalism" is often used to describe Turkish nationali ...

, Nihâl Atsız.

Politics

The two brothers had strong similarities in many ways. They were both literature teachers and they were defending the same political ideology. Just like his brother, he was tried during the ''Türkçülük Davası'' (Trial of Pan-Turkism). The trial was a state reaction to the growing power of the nationalist front in the country because the nationalists were against the policies of the second president of Turkey,

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three tim ...

. In the end, Sançar wasn't found guilty and he was acquitted. He kept his extreme right-wing ideas until his death.

Literature

Sançar's numerous articles were published in nationalist magazines. Also, he wrote five books which are ''Türklük Sevgisi'' (Love of the Turkic Identity), ''Irkımızın Kahramanları'' (Heroes of Our Race), ''Tarihte Türk-İtalyan Savaşları'' ( Italo-Turkish Wars in History), ''Afşın'a Mektuplar'' (Letters to Afşın) and ''İsmet İnönü İle Hesaplaşma'' (Face to Face with İsmet İnönü).

Death

Nejdet Sançar died on February 22, 1975, while he was working on an expanded version of his book ''Tarihte Türk-İtalyan Savaşları'' (Turkish-Italian Wars in History). Not even a year later, his brother died because of a heart attack. The deaths of the brothers caused a gap in the Pan-Turkist front.

Trivia

*His only son, 15 years old Afşın, died in 1960. When Sançar heard the news, he had a serious stroke which he could only recover from partially. *Sançar took an active role in associations like ''Türkiye Komünizmle Mücadele Derneği'' (Turkish Association of Fight with Communism) and Turkish Hearths (Turkish:''Türk Ocakları)''. *The surnames of Nihâl Atsız, Nejdet Sançar and their father are different because during the announcement of the '' Law on Family Names'', they couldn't communicate because of Sançar's military service.

External links

Sançar's biography from Ministry of Culture and Tourism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sancar, Nejdet 1975 deaths 1910 births Turkish nationalists Turkish writers Pan-Turkists Turanists