| Nejdet Sançar | |
| Birth Name: | Ahmet Necdet Sançar |
| Birth Date: | 1 May 1910 |
| Birth Place: | Istanbul, Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey) |
| Death Place: | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Nationality: | Turkish |
Ahmet Necdet Sançar (May 1, 1910 – February 22, 1975) was a Turkish literature teacher, who became one of the prominent personalities of the Pan-Turkist ideology. He was the younger brother of another notable Turkish nationalist, Nihal Atsız.[1]
He was born in Istanbul on May 1, 1910.[1] His family was originally from Gümüşhane, and his father was a lieutenant commander in the Ottoman Navy. His siblings included Hüseyin Nihal, Fatma Nezihe and Necla.[1]
After graduating from Istanbul Boys' High School, he obtained a degree in Turcology from Istanbul University in 1936.[1]
The two brothers had strong similarities in many ways. They were both literature teachers and they were defending the same political ideology. Just like his brother, he was tried during the Türkçülük Davası (Trial of Pan-Turkism). The trial was a state reaction to the growing power of the nationalist front in the country because the nationalists were against the policies of the second president of Turkey, Ismet Pasha. In the end, Sançar wasn't found guilty and he was acquitted. He kept his extreme right-wing ideas until his death.
Sançar's numerous articles were published in nationalist magazines. Also, he wrote five books which are Türklük Sevgisi (Love of the Turkic Identity), Irkımızın Kahramanları (Heroes of Our Race), Tarihte Türk-İtalyan Savaşları (Italo-Turkish Wars in History), Afşın'a Mektuplar (Letters to Afşın) and İsmet İnönü İle Hesaplaşma (Face to Face with İsmet İnönü).
Nejdet Sançar died on February 22, 1975, while he was working on an expanded version of his book Tarihte Türk-İtalyan Savaşları (Turkish-Italian Wars in History). Not even a year later, his brother died because of a heart attack. The deaths of the brothers caused a gap in the Pan-Turkist front.