Political scientist Umut Özkırımlı, the author of several books including “Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction”, discusses nationalism in Turkey in the wake of its military offensive in Syria.<br /><br />Özkırımlı, a visiting professor at Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals and Blanquerna - Universitat Ramon Llull, and a visiting researcher at Barcelona Center for International Studies, says in times of peace Turkey witnesses competing ideas of nationalism, but such differences dissolve when Turkey, ruled by a leader who plays the nationalism card skilfully, faces a crisis like the recent one in Syria.

Yektan Türkyılmaz: What happened to Armenians in 1915 is very well documented

Political repression and curtailed freedoms have earned Turkey a troubling reputation abroad in recent years. For generations of western artists and intellectuals in the 20th century, though, the country was a haven, and many congregated in Istanbul to lead a lifestyle of freedom, far from the Cold War repression of their own countries.