However, he could not graduate from high school since joined the Ottoman Army in 1914 and he fought on the Caucasian front for four years as a reserve officer.
[5] After the military coup of 27 May 1960 which ended the rule of the Democrat Party (DP), the National Unity Committee removed Başgil along with 147 faculty members from his academic post.
[2] After his retirement Başgil became part of the Thinkers Club (Turkish: Aydınlar Kulübü) of which ideology was a synthesis of Turkism and Islamism.
[7] The other major members of the group included Arif Nihat Asya, Kemal Ilıcak, Tarık Buğra and Süleyman Yalçın.
[8] He was elected senator as an independent candidate from the Justice Party list representing Samsun in 1961.
[9] He went to Switzerland in 1962 where he worked at the Department of Turkish History and Language of the University of Geneva.
[14] Başgil's critics, on the other hand, argued that his formulation of secularism was based on Islam and also, a major deviation from the Turkish laicism.
[14] Başgil was also subject to the harsh criticisms by Nihal Atsız, a significant nationalist figure, due to his Anatolianist views.
[13] He added that the state could not totally repress religious beliefs which may result in negative outcomes.
[13] In his later life he supported the Turkish–Islamic synthesis to bring together the conservative figures, including the Islamists and Turkists.