This is because while Turkish nationalism did not have a race-based or racist content, it was inclusive of all other ethnic and cultural elements as well as those of religion. The power of traditional Turkish nationalism used to derive from love of country, ideals and nation, and it wasn't necessarily based on xenophobia. Today, however, we are faced with a brand new trend that incorporates a little racism, a good deal of xenophobia, a little bit of patriotism, a little fear of globalization and a bit of resistance from a certain segment of society, strong in the previous system but now erected to retain its current privileges. The term "the rise of nationalism" doesn't at all befit this new trend -- which contains within it leftist propensities with extremely weak ties to religion, which was an indispensable part of the former strain of nationalism, and which don't favor the ideals traditional nationalism was based upon -- along with some marginal groups that supported internationalism for years.
Just as traditional Turkish nationalism doesn't suffice to meet this new trend, attributing the negativities suggested by this new trend to nationalism would be doing an injustice to this concept, which is intrinsically positive. For this reason "neo-nationalism - ulusalcılık," rather than nationalism, is preferred to define this new trend, which has recently been on the rise. This term, being the choice of the neo-nationalists to define themselves, also fulfills an important function in terms of differentiating the new trend from the traditional one.
Additionally, while there is a monotonous but consistent structure in the traditional nationalism, neo-nationalism gives the impression that it is a coalition of disgruntled segments and ideological approaches, brought together by opposition against something rather than by a unity of being for the same ideals. And through the rallies it holds and the mottos it develops, this coalition of the disgruntled gives rise to tendencies escalating into xenophobia and causing the country to retreat further into itself. With the United States taking the lead, the double-standard attitude of the European Union and the attitude of other countries toward Turkey are helping the neo-nationalists further their cause as much as they want.
Ultimately, the place we arrive at can be found in the results reached by the Pew Research Center. According to the results of a study conducted by this US research organization, Turkey is the country with the greatest rate of people discontent with US policies. The majority of Turks also negatively view leading global actors such as the EU, Russia, Iran, China and Israel.
According to the survey, part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, only 9 percent of Turks have positive feelings toward the US, while 83 percent are negative. If we recall that 52 percent of Turks supported US policies in 2000, the fact that this support has dropped to 9 percent is very significant.
The results of the research also strike us with another fact: Turkish people are gradually moving away from a pro-EU stance. Those with positive attitudes towards the EU stand at 27 percent in the survey, compared to 58 percent in 2004.
Again, the majority of Turks say they are cold toward Russia and, accordingly, only 10 percent favor the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Similarly, those who like the policies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel number only 10 percent.
Turkish people also make negative remarks on China, and strangely enough, support for Iran has also declined by 25 percent in only a year. While 53 percent viewed Iran positively last year, this rate is only 28 percent today. In addition, only 4 percent of Turks say they are sympathetic toward Israel.
This rise in negative feelings toward an increasingly bigger number of countries cannot be reduced merely to problems caused by the countries in question. What needs to be carefully analyzed here is the reason Turks have acquired negative feelings toward all important global actors without exception. Naturally, the effect of rising neo-nationalism cannot be denied at this point.
