Is being a nation a bad thing?

Nation is actually a Mongolian word. It means a share, a part, a country allocated to each of the kagan family. In fact, nation is a word that we have been using for a long time, it evolved from the word to divide, to share, to divide.

During the Republican period, the word national was derived from the word nation. 

For the first time on September 26, 1934, Atatürk uses the word "national" in a telegram to celebrate the language festival. His telegram is published in Cumhuriyet newspaper. 

"I have received many congratulations from the General Directorate of the Turkish Language Research Institute, national institutions and various organizations for our language festival. I am proud of the good feelings shown. I also congratulate the public."  

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha President

There are a lot of words in this sentence that we don't understand. 

Atatürk once tried very hard to make the language Turkish. But after a while he realized that this could not be done by force. He used a different language in the telegrams he sent later.

"I was very grateful for your telegram expressing the feelings of the Turkish Language Institution about me on the occasion of the Language Day. I thank you and wish you continued success in your valuable work." K. Atatürk.

In his 1934 telegram, one of the Turkish words he used was "özek", which according to TDK means "the place of something that is at the same distance from its surroundings". In this sense, such a meaning does not fit in Atatürk's sentence. In fact, özek is also used in Tatar, it means "core". But Atatürk used it in the sense of "the essence of something", essence, core. Maybe he meant it in the context of the organization. When you think about it, you understand what he actually meant.

Orunlar, orun. This is a word we don't use now. It means a seat or a throne. TDK dictionary defines it as "special place". It also means "office, position". Actually the meaning Atatürk uses here is "place". He says, "I received many boxes of plants from various places". 

The word "place" we use today had a wider meaning in history. The earth, the world. 

"Above is Sky God, 

When the golden earth was made, the son of Turk was made among it." 

A quote from the Orkhon inscriptions, dating from 735.

Of course, "kutun bitik" does not make sense either. Today it is a "congratulatory message".

Many did not understand what Atatürk wanted to do in those days and even objected. Perhaps he too envisioned a change a little too fast. He wanted to be a pioneer in the Turkishization of the language. But this effort backfired a bit.

Still, many of the words we use today were derived in those days.

Yes, national is one of these words. Although it later acquired another meaning and turned into the concept of nationalism, Atatürk used the word national instead of the word "national" we use today. When he said national institutions, he actually meant national institutions.

Although national is a word preferred mostly among nationalists today, it has a much deeper meaning as a concept.

The concept of nation actually means a group of people who are bound to the same homeland and flag, regardless of their belonging, beliefs, lineage and origin.  

The concept of nation does not refer to unity of lineage like a people, nor to unity of belief like a nation. Nor unity of language. None of these concepts are important for being a nation. It is enough to be a citizen, a flag bearer. 

Although it is actually simple enough with these meanings, a movement called Nationalism emerged especially after 1973. This concept started to be used instead of nationalism. 

After 1995, this concept was trapped in the hands of a certain minority. Therefore, it was met with reaction by a large section of the society.

Some people said no, we are a nation, without knowing what the concept of nation really means. Others said no, we are the people. 

The believers, on the other hand, felt that they belonged to a much broader concept. 

We should neither be a nation, nor a nation, nor a people. There is a group in Turkey today that says we should be an ummah. 

The ummah dreams of a much larger union that transcends national borders. Islamic Union. It's not a bad thing, by the way. I wish it could happen. 

In today's world, we live in states consisting of people living in a homeland with defined borders and gathered under a flag. 

Many of them are nation states. Although some of them have officially recognized different languages as state languages, most of them have a single language. 

Others have emphasized unity of belief. In other words, they have officially adopted that states have a religion. Although most of the states with an official religion are Islamic republics, some of them describe themselves as Christian republics. In other words, some states have adopted Christianity as the official state religion. There are also some states that have adopted Buddhism as the state religion.

There are also states that are characterized on racial grounds. Today, many Arab countries characterize themselves as an Arab Republic. I don't know whether only Arabs can be citizens according to the laws of the state, but for some reason they felt the need to at least mention their ethnic origin in the names of their states.

As I said, apart from these few examples, many states in the world today with defined political borders are nation states. 

I think it is useful to internalize the concept of nation. The concept of nation is too valuable to be left in the hands of a certain group. 

Instead of "national" derived from nation, I would prefer to use the word "national" derived from nation like Atatürk. 

Although the word nation is mentioned in dictionaries as a Mongolian word, it sounds very Turkish to me. When I was little, we used to play a lot of games with glass marbles, and in some games we would form teams of two or three. After the game, we would say, "Let's divide the marbles we had stolen from others. Nation, to unite, to reproduce, to utter, to utmost, these are beautiful words.

Being a nation, sharing the same homeland and flag. To be one as a nation, to be united. I guess the way to become a society is through these concepts. It is also good to be a nation, a people, even an ummah. But if we can be a nation, we will be all of them. 

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow

Note: 

The oil painting in the title is a post-Westphalia celebration painting, "Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster". The English title is "Banquet of the shooters". 

It is said to have been painted by Bartholomaeus van der Helst in 1648, but it was probably completed at least a year later. 

Today it is on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. 

The painting is dedicated to the Peace of Westphalia signed in Europe on January 30, 1648. This peace is considered to be the real beginning of the concept of the Nation State, which emerged in Europe in the 19th century.