Munis Tekinalp

Munis Tekinalp (* 1883 in Serres , † 1961 in Nice ) was a Turkish publicist of Jewish origin. He was at various times an ideologue of different movements: Ottomanism , Pan-Turkism and Kemalism . He was born as Moiz Kohen ( Eng . Moses Cohen ). He later had his name changed to Munis Tekinalp.

Life

Tekinalp grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family in Serres. He was the youngest of nine children. His father, Ishak Kohen, was a rabbi . Tekinalp graduated from the so-called Alyans Mektebi in Saloniki , a Jewish school founded by the Alliance Israélite Universelle at the end of the 19th century. He then attended a Talmud school. He worked as an accountant in a trading company and wrote articles for the Asır newspaper , which he later became editor-in-chief. In 1906 he joined the Committee for Unity and Progress , married Matild Ben David and studied from 1907 at the École Impériale de Droit in Saloniki. Tekinalp took part in the Zionist Congress of 1909 in Hamburg. There he took the view that the State of Israel should be established on the territory of the Ottoman Empire . In 1909 he met Ziya Gökalp , who was to have a great influence on him. He also had contact with Ömer Seyfettin , Yunus Nadi and Zekeriya Sertel . After Saloniki was occupied, Tekinalp went to Istanbul with his family in 1912 . At that time he had two children. The eldest daughter was called Terez, the name of his son was İzak. In 1914 another son named Giyom was born. In Istanbul he taught law and economics at the Darülfünun , published articles and writings in French and German. Here he also has his name changed. Tekinalp also wrote for the Yeni Mecmua newspaper and published the business newspaper İktisat Mecmuası . He worked as legal advisor to the tobacco company Duhan Türk AŞ and later took over the representation of this company in Turkey. In the 1940s, Tekinalp was arrested for not being able to pay his debts due to the war tax, which was directed against religious minorities, Varlık Vergisi , and was placed in the Demirkapı camp in Sirkeci (Istanbul). After World War II , Tekinalp was elected to the Istanbul City Council and wrote columns for the Cumhuriyet , Vatan , Akşam , Hürriyet and Son Posta newspapers . Tekinalp retired from 1956 in Nice. His wish to take on the office of honorary consul there was rejected because of his Jewish origin. Tekinalp died in Nice in 1961 and was buried there in the Jewish cemetery.

Ottomanism, Pan-Turkism and Nationalism

During his life Tekinalp adhered to several ideologies . Initially, he represented the idea of Ottomanism , the idea of ​​a common and overarching identity for all Ottoman citizens regardless of their origin. In the period before and during the First World War in particular , Tekinalp represented Pan- Turkist ideas. He believed in the common origin of all Turks. In his opinion, the Turks also had language, customs, history, way of thinking and literature in common. When the Ottoman Empire entered the war, he formulated pan- Turkish war aims in his book, Turkler Bu Muharebede Ne Kazanabilirler ("What can the Turks win in this war?"). This book was published a year later in German under the title "Türkismus und Pantürkismus". Tekinalp polemicized in particular against Russia and China and propagated a “golden fatherland” with Istanbul as the capital.

After the founding of the Republic of Turkey , Tekinalp became an advocate of Kemalist nationalism, which is strictly limited to Turkey. In his pamphlet Türkleştirme ( Turkization ) , he urged the Jews in Turkey to become Turkish. He made 10 demands and provocatively called them the " Ten Commandments " ( Evamir-i Aşere ). They read:

1. Turquoise the names!
2. Speak Turkish!
3. At least some of the prayers in the synagogues are kept in Turkish!
4. Turquoise the schools!
5. Send your children to state schools!
6. Intervene in the affairs of the country!
7. Care dealing with Turks!
8. Remove the spirit of the church from your being!
9. Do your duty for the national economy!
10. Know your right!

Individual evidence

1. ^ For example, Mercure de France of August 16, 1912 under the pseudonym P. Risal
2. ↑ For example, “Turkism and Pan-Turkism ” 1915, a translation of his work Türkler bu Muharebede Ne Kazanabilirler
3. ↑ See Tekinalps book Le Kemalisme . Paris 1937

literature

• Jacob M. Landau : Tekinalp Turkish Patriot 1883–1961. Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologische Instituut, Istanbul 1984 ( Uitgaven van het Nederlands Historisch-Archeologische Instituut te Istanbul = Publications de l'Institut Historique et Archéologique Néerlandais de Stamboul 53, ISSN  0926-9568 ).

Web links

• Literature by and about Munis Tekinalp in the catalog of the German National Library