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Yusuf Akçura was ethnic Tatar (Born: December 2, 1876, Ulyanovsk, Russia ; Died: March 11, 1935, Istanbul).
He was a thinker, ideologist, writer. He was an educated man who studied in Turkey (Ottoman empire), Russia, France. He lived many years in Egypt, beside also visited Syria, Lebanon and Palestine in 1913.
In his letters he wrote while he was in Syria and Palestine, he made important analysis on the Arab society and Arab perception of Islam. His letters were published as a book in 2016 in Turkey.
“In my understanding of Islam and that of the Arab youth, there are huge differences. He (Arab young) thinks of Islam like Judaism, a national religion. I understand Islam as a popular, global religion. The Arab wants Islam to be spread to the whole mankind, but he also wants the Arabness to be spread with it. He wants every Muslim to become Arab, he wants the whole Muslim world to become an Arab Empire.”
Yusuf Akçura, Letters from Syria and Palestine, page 47.
http://www.kirmizilar.com/tr/index.p...rut-gozlemleri
In Beyruth (Lebanon), Akçura also strongly criticizes the Ottoman state of leaving those people on their own while writing his perceptions of Lebanon. He somewhat blamed the Ottomans to submit to that Arab ideology of a national Arab religion, similar to how Jews view Judaism.
Later he was someone important and among the people who had influence on Atatürk's thoughts since he established in Turkey. Akçura was among the teachers of Atatürk.
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