Süleyman Yalçın

Süleyman Yalçın (1926–2016) was a Turkish physician, academic, conservative political figure and journalist who headed a conservative nationalist think-tank called the Aydınlar Ocağı in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a faculty member at Istanbul University between 1952 and 1988. He is known for his active role in the formulation of the Turkish–Islamic synthesis.

Early life and education He was born in Büyükanafartalar, a village of Çanakkale, in 1926. After completing primary and secondary schools in his hometown, he graduated from Kabataş Boys High School in 1944 and from the Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, in 1950.

Career and activities Yalçın joined his alma mater in 1952 and completed his training in internal medicine in 1957.

Yalçın worked at the American universities as a faculty member from 1964 to 1966 and from 1970 to1973. His tenure ended 31 May 1979. Yalçın was elected to the post for a second time on 4 April 1984 and held the post until 29 June !988 when Salih Tuğ was named as the chair of Aydınlar Ocağı.

Yalçın retired from Istanbul University in 1988.

Views Tayfun Atay, a Turkish academic and writer, argued in 2016 that Yalçın's views were the driving force behind the change in the official-ideological orbit of the Turkish state after the military coup of 12 September 1980. Yalçın was also influential in the formation of the intellectual background of nationalist governments just before the coup through Aydınlar Ocağı which he headed.

Yalçın described Turks as "Muslims who speak the Turkish language." In an interview with Cumhuriyet in 1988 while serving as the chair of Aydınlar Ocağı he further argued "Turkishness and Islam have become so inextricably linked over the centuries that when a Turk loses his religion, he loses his Turkish identity." He added that even if Turks do not believe in Islam, they must show respect to Islam due to the fact that "it is the religion of their nation."

Yalçın died of multiple organ failure at Istanbul University's Hospital on 18 December 2016 at the age of 90. He was buried in Büyükanafartalar, Çanakkale, next day after funeral prayers in the Fatih Mosque.