Gülmez, Recep

Religion and nationalism are not only two distinctive but also closely related concepts when it comes to nation-building. Their role in language policy and linguistic nationalism is pervasive. Today, in Turkey, two religious movements of the same origin play a key role in linguistic nationalism and decision-making in language policy: the Gülen movement and the Med-Zehra movement. These two non-governmental affinities are important groups in the Nur movement. The Gülen movement is supportive of Turkish nationalism and thereby Turkish language and identity, while the Med-Zehra group emphasizes Kurdish identity and separatism. This study makes a comparison between the two movements and investigates in detail their role in language policy and linguistic nationalism.