Influences of Turkism on Azerbaijani Literary Thinking

The emergence of Turkism in Azerbaijani literature occurred after the rise of literary Turkism in Ottoman Turkey, where it first developed and flourished. Although ideas of Turkification or a return to Turkism, as proposed by Ottoman thinkers, writers, and educators, initially sparked debate, over time these ideas evolved into an ideology and eventually a well-established concept. Unlike political Turkism, literary Turkism gained widespread acceptance among the people through the works of writers and poets, who awakened national feelings and patriotism. The ideas of literary Turkism gradually transcended Ottoman Turkey’s borders, spreading into the Azerbaijani literary environment and influencing Azerbaijani writers and poets. In Azerbaijan, people discussed these ideas, which piqued their interest through newspapers, magazines, and books published in Istanbul. Azerbaijani writers and thinkers, inspired by these ideas, promoted them in their writings and sought to make them widespread. Even earlier, Mirza Fatali Akhundov, by creating works in his native language, laid the foundation for Turkism in terms of writing and language, albeit indirectly. After him, Hasan bey Zardabi, Ahmad bey Aghaoghlu, and especially Ali bey Huseynzadeh, contributed significantly to this movement through their writings. This paper explores the emergence, development, and dissemination of literary Turkism in Azerbaijan.