On the other hand, the military coup and disintegration process that it triggered also played very important role in the foreign policy transformation process. On the one hand, the Western attitude undermined the Kemalist and other Westernist schools and caused an ideological transformation in Turkish foreign policy. During the 1960s several factors forced Turkish policy makers towards a new foreign policy. In: USAK YEARBOOK, Vol:3, Year: 2010, pp.171-235 Abstract: In the post-coup years two main factors the détente process, and as a result of the détente significant change in the United States' policies towards Turkey, started a chain-reaction process in Turkish foreign policy. These elements, as well as social and political background and basic beliefs, are examined, the leading components of the neo- nationalist movement are identified, and their objectives and the tactics they use to achieve them are analyzed. Particular attention will be devoted to a loose collection of extremist organizations and media known as the “ulusalcılar.” Despite philosophical differences within the group, three fundamental elements in Ulusalcı thought can be identified: uncompromising anti-Westernism externalization of Islam from Turkish nationalism and ethnic exclusionism. This study considers the psychological and theoretical bases of Turkish nationalism and analyzes why militant nationalism is becoming a more significant political factor. Yet nationalist activists have become unusually strident in their rhetoric, coalescing around various radical political platforms to seek the ouster of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) regime, either through the ballot box or by violent means. ABSTRACT Nationalism has been a powerful force in Turkish politics since the founding of the Republic.

Sol by Murat Gültekingil