İdris Küçükömer

İdris Küçükömer (1 June 1925 – 5 July 1987) was a Turkish academic, philosopher and economist whose views has been influential in Turkish politics. He developed an alternative interpretation of Kemalism from the mid-1960s to his death.

Early life and education Küçükömer was born in Giresun on 1 June 1925. His PhD thesis was entitled "" ("Contentious Issues in Contemporary Theories of Capital"). Küçükömer was involved in the establishment of the Socialist Culture Society in 1963.

In 1976, Küçükömer became a full professor at Istanbul University. At the beginning of the 1960s, he held a Kemalist political stance.

In the following period, Küçükömer argued that Kemalism is a bureaucratic, elitist, putschist and reactionary ideology that had its roots in the Turkish army and Turkish bureaucratic elites.

Küçükömer is the author of various books of which the most influential one is (English: Westernization and the Estrangement of the Established Order) published in 1969. In his studies, he argued that Kemalism and leftist movements in Turkey have controversial nature.

Personal life and death

Küçükömer's wife was Meral Küçükömer who died in Istanbul in November 2020. They had two sons. He died in Istanbul on 5 July 1987 after a long illness and was buried in Büyükada.

Can Yücel, a Turkish poet, dedicated a poem entitled " (English: "This Task of İdris") to Küçükömer after his death.