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PAN-TURKISM ANEW: ALIYEV VOICES THE "GREAT TURKIC WORLD" IDEA IN KAZAKHSTAN SUMMIT
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
25.10.11 | 13:09
Photo: www.president.kz
The Cooperation Council of Turkic Language Speaking States held a
summit last week in the capital of Kazakhstan. This institute of
Turkic solidarity was established by the decision made two years ago
during the 9th Summit of leaders of Turkic language speaking states
in Nakhijevan.
It was an outstanding summit when in the presence of leaders of Turkey,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and high-ranking officials from a number of
other Turkic language speaking states, Azeri president Ilham Aliyev
stated: "Nachijevan is an ancient Azeri land. The separation of
Zangezur- a historically authentic Azeri land - from Azerbaijan and
its annexation to Armenia at the time geographically dismembered the
great Turkic world."
Armenia viewed this statement as a potential threat, and as an
expression of pan-Turkism only under new political circumstances.
And so now the first summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic
Language Speaking States was held in Almaty, during which the Azeri
president declared: "Turkic world is a great world! We have to make
it become even more united. We have all the means for that. First of
all, there is a strong political will."
This might seem like an innocent statement. However, from the
perspective of the Armenian perception of the very concept of "Turkic
world" is quite unequivocally associated with "the Great Turan"
(Turan is the Persian word for Central Asia) - the very idea by
which the Armenian nation has been victimized. In the beginning of
last century two innocent scientific concepts (Turkic and Aryan) were
used by Pan-Turkism followers and Nazis in a way that the contemporary
usage of these terms can't help but objectively sound ominous.
During the summit Aliyev also stressed: "The main issue Azerbaijan is
facing is the Armenian-Azeri one, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. It
is a source of the biggest threat and injustice not only towards
us, but the whole region. Armenia committed ethnic purges against
Azeris. As a result of that policy around one million Azeris have
become refugees and migrants in their own motherland; 20 percent of
our lands are occupied."
Obviously, such statements cannot be purely viewed in the context
organizers of such summits commonly voice: "strengthening economic
and cultural ties with brother republics". Quite the opposite, it
perfectly fits into the historic context.
Back in 1933, during the period of drastic cooling of relations between
Moscow and Ankara, Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal stated: "One day
Russia will lose control over the nations it is keeping tightly in its
hands today. The world then would reach a new level. And at that very
moment Turkey has to know exactly what to do. Our brothers by blood,
faith and language are under Russia's reign. We have to be ready to
support them. Our common language is our bridge, our common faith
is our bridge, our common history is our bridge. We have to remember
our roots. We should not wait for them to reach out for us; we have
to draw nearer to them ourselves. One fine day Russia will fall."
This "eastern vector" specified by the founder of the republican
Turkey has remained the most important guideline for the country's
political elite for the following several decades.
Leader of modern Turkey Abdulla Gul's speech at the Nakhijevan
summit is exemplary: "Nakhijevan is native and precious not only to
Azerbaijan, but to Turkey as well. The border between Azerbaijan and
Turkey in the Nakhijevani region is physically small, but politically
this 10-12-kilometer-long border has huge significance. This border
of ours is a symbolic transition geographically linking Turkey with
Turkic republics."
If today's use of the term "Aryan" is under strict "international
control" (and is practically impossible from high international
rostrums), things are different with the "Turkic" concept. To a
certain extent, it is a consequence of who has, and when, condemned
the crimes committed by Nazis and Pan-Turkism supporters.
It is the lack of the total international condemnation of the crime
of the Armenian Genocide that has allowed the concept of "Turkic"
to return into the scientific ethno-linguistic arena, and conditions
the world community's indifference to the application of that ominous
term today.
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
25.10.11 | 13:09
Photo: www.president.kz
The Cooperation Council of Turkic Language Speaking States held a
summit last week in the capital of Kazakhstan. This institute of
Turkic solidarity was established by the decision made two years ago
during the 9th Summit of leaders of Turkic language speaking states
in Nakhijevan.
It was an outstanding summit when in the presence of leaders of Turkey,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and high-ranking officials from a number of
other Turkic language speaking states, Azeri president Ilham Aliyev
stated: "Nachijevan is an ancient Azeri land. The separation of
Zangezur- a historically authentic Azeri land - from Azerbaijan and
its annexation to Armenia at the time geographically dismembered the
great Turkic world."
Armenia viewed this statement as a potential threat, and as an
expression of pan-Turkism only under new political circumstances.
And so now the first summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic
Language Speaking States was held in Almaty, during which the Azeri
president declared: "Turkic world is a great world! We have to make
it become even more united. We have all the means for that. First of
all, there is a strong political will."
This might seem like an innocent statement. However, from the
perspective of the Armenian perception of the very concept of "Turkic
world" is quite unequivocally associated with "the Great Turan"
(Turan is the Persian word for Central Asia) - the very idea by
which the Armenian nation has been victimized. In the beginning of
last century two innocent scientific concepts (Turkic and Aryan) were
used by Pan-Turkism followers and Nazis in a way that the contemporary
usage of these terms can't help but objectively sound ominous.
During the summit Aliyev also stressed: "The main issue Azerbaijan is
facing is the Armenian-Azeri one, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. It
is a source of the biggest threat and injustice not only towards
us, but the whole region. Armenia committed ethnic purges against
Azeris. As a result of that policy around one million Azeris have
become refugees and migrants in their own motherland; 20 percent of
our lands are occupied."
Obviously, such statements cannot be purely viewed in the context
organizers of such summits commonly voice: "strengthening economic
and cultural ties with brother republics". Quite the opposite, it
perfectly fits into the historic context.
Back in 1933, during the period of drastic cooling of relations between
Moscow and Ankara, Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal stated: "One day
Russia will lose control over the nations it is keeping tightly in its
hands today. The world then would reach a new level. And at that very
moment Turkey has to know exactly what to do. Our brothers by blood,
faith and language are under Russia's reign. We have to be ready to
support them. Our common language is our bridge, our common faith
is our bridge, our common history is our bridge. We have to remember
our roots. We should not wait for them to reach out for us; we have
to draw nearer to them ourselves. One fine day Russia will fall."
This "eastern vector" specified by the founder of the republican
Turkey has remained the most important guideline for the country's
political elite for the following several decades.
Leader of modern Turkey Abdulla Gul's speech at the Nakhijevan
summit is exemplary: "Nakhijevan is native and precious not only to
Azerbaijan, but to Turkey as well. The border between Azerbaijan and
Turkey in the Nakhijevani region is physically small, but politically
this 10-12-kilometer-long border has huge significance. This border
of ours is a symbolic transition geographically linking Turkey with
Turkic republics."
If today's use of the term "Aryan" is under strict "international
control" (and is practically impossible from high international
rostrums), things are different with the "Turkic" concept. To a
certain extent, it is a consequence of who has, and when, condemned
the crimes committed by Nazis and Pan-Turkism supporters.
It is the lack of the total international condemnation of the crime
of the Armenian Genocide that has allowed the concept of "Turkic"
to return into the scientific ethno-linguistic arena, and conditions
the world community's indifference to the application of that ominous
term today.