Racism-Turanism trials
trials in Turkey
The Racism-Turanism trials (Turkish: Irkçılık-Turancılık Davası) were a series of legal prosecutions of defendants accused of spreading racist and pan-Turkist ideologies and attempting a coup on the Turkish government. The trials lasted between May 1944 and March 1947, and were triggered by nationalist demonstrations on 3 May 1944 in support of Nihal Atsız who was on trial against Sabahattin Ali for defamation.
Pre-trial
On the 3 May 1944 a rally by racists and Turanists in support of Nihal Atsız with thousands of participants took place. The protestors shortly managed to occupy the courthouse and shout slogans against the government. In reaction to the rallies on 3 May 1944, from 9 May onwards 47 people were detained, most of them known Pan-Turkists like Nihal Atsız. Reha Oğuz Türkkan was arrested on 10 May and Atsız's brother Nejdet Sançar on 14 May in Balıkesir. Atsız's wife Bedriye was also arrested on 16 May. Several Turkish journalists supported the Turkish government and blamed the people attending the manifestations of being racists and Turanists. The Turkish President İsmet İnönü took the lead in the political sphere during a speech in the Ankara Stadium in which he proclaimed that Turkey was a nationalist country, but deemed Turanism of causing hostilities with its neighboring countries. Journalists Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın and Mehmet Emin Erişirgil and other Turkish nationalists followed suit and also criticized the imprisoned Turkists.
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