Nejdet Sançar
Encyclopedia
Nejdet Sançar was a Turkish literature
Turkish literature
Turkish literature comprises both oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language, either in its Ottoman form or in less exclusively literary forms, such as that spoken in the Republic of Turkey today...
teacher who became one of the prominent personalities of the Pan-Turanism school. He was the brother of another notable Turkish nationalist, Hüseyin Nihâl Atsız
Hüseyin Nihâl Atsiz
Hüseyin Nihâl Atsız was a prominent Turkish nationalist writer, novelist, poet and philosopher. Nihâl Atsız was a fervent supporter of the pan-Turkist or Turanism ideology. He is author of over 30 books and numerous articles...
.
Politics
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) and he faced torture. The trial was a state reaction to the growing power of the nationalist front in the country because nationalist were against the policies of the second president of Turkey, İsmet İnönüIsmet Inönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of Turkey. In 1938, the Republican People's Party gave him the title of "Milli Şef" .-Family and early life:...
. In the end, Sançar wasn't found guilty and he was acquitted. He kept his extreme right 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 WarItalo-Turkish War
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
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. Not even a year later, his brother died because of a heart attack. The deaths of the brothers caused a gap in the Pan-Turanist 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 active role in associations like Türkiye Komünizmle Mücadele Derneği (Turkish War on Communism Association) and Türk Ocakları (which was formed by his brother).
- Surnames of Nihal Atsız and Nejdet Sançar are different because during the announcement of Law on Family Names, they couldn't communicate because of Sançar's military service.