PanTurkic

Pan-Turkism is a political and cultural ideology that advocates the unity and solidarity of Turkic peoples across geographic and political boundaries, based on shared language, history, and cultural heritage. The movement emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among intellectuals in the Ottoman and Russian Empires. Key figures include Yusuf Akçura, whose early writings argued for Turkic unity as a political project, and Ziya Gökalp, who promoted cultural and political solidarity among Turkic-speaking communities. Pan-Turkism is sometimes linked to Turanism, a broader concept that seeks cultural or political ties beyond strictly Turkic groups, but the two are distinct in emphasis.

Core ideas of Pan-Turkism center on linguistic and cultural affinity, political cooperation, and, in more expansive formulations, the possibility of a union or close association among Turkic states and communities. The envisioned "Turkic World" spans regions where Turkic languages are spoken, including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Central Asia, the Volga-Ural area in Russia, and parts of the Caucasus and China. Proponents have varied in their aims from cultural revival and regional cooperation to calls for more formal political fusions, though these goals have rarely translated into sustained, unified political movements.

Historical development shows Pan-Turkist thought influencing early 20th-century nationalist movements in the Ottoman Empire and among Turkic-speaking populations in the former Russian Empire. After the collapse of empires and the Soviet Union, related ideas persisted in cultural and diplomatic exchanges rather than broad-based calls for immediate unification. In contemporary discourse, Pan-Turkism is often discussed as a cultural and geopolitical frame rather than a concrete political program.

See also: Turkic Council (Organization of Turkic States), Turkic languages, Ziya Gökalp, Yusuf Akçura.