CHAPTER (BLM) 2ORIGIN OF TURKS (TRKLERN KKEN)

INTRODUCTION (GR) The origins of the Turkic peoples are not well documented. However, the Turks or their precursors (Hun Empire) already had a grater-than-regional role in Euroasian history before their name appears in historical sources. Their Inner Asian homeland also felt the impact of major historical currents originating outside it. Manifold illustrations of these points emerge from the prehistory of the Turks and from what is known about the social, economic, and political forms of the societies that preceded them.

PREHISTORY OF THE TURKS The high plateau of Central Asia, east of the Altai mountains, is a region from which successive waves of tribesmen have emerged to prey upon more sedentary neighbors. This region is the original homeland of both Turks and Mongols, two groups much intermingled in history and loosely related in their languages. This plateau is an ideal starting point for the movement of nomadic tribes in search of new pastures, and for sudden excursions of a more predatory nature.

It lies at the extreme end of an unbroken range of open grasslands, the steppes, which reach all the way to Europe. Horsemen can move fast along the steppes. South of this nomadic highway live rich settled communities. The emergence of the Turks from the Central Asia is a gradual and uncharted process.

TURKIC MIGRATIONS

Each successive wave makes its first appearance in history only when Turkish tribes acquire power in some new regions.The first records refer to these tribes appeared in historical sources by the third century B.C.E.. The best known of these are called the Hsiung-nu, an early form of the Western termHun, who lived in an area bounded by the Altai Mountains, Lake Baikal, and the northern edge of the Gobi Desert and are believed to have been the ancestors of the Turks.

Reasons for migration of Turks from Central Asia1. Central Asia was not suitable anymore in terms of climate and soil conditions for agriculture and animal husbandry.2. Inadequacy of existing livelihoods as a result of rapid population growth.3. Political disagreements arising between Turkish tribes. 4. Occurrence of epidemic among animals5. The desire to obtain new lands6. Attacks of neighboring states (Mongolia and China)7. Pasture became insufficient

TURKISH RACE (TRK IRKI) Definitions about the Turkish race that were made in history are quite confusing. In Chinese sources as well as in Latin and Greek sources the Turks haverather been described as Mongolian types. The reason why the Turks were shown as "mongoloids" in ancienttimes can be explained by the fact that in those times the Mongolian element was a majority among the TurkishStates. Through the whole history of the Turks, the nearest contact was to their close neighbor the Mongolians. The crowded Mongolian populations had joined under the Turkish regency (like the Tabgac's at the Asian Hun's)and ten thousands of Mongolians had shared long immigrations together with the Turks (like the East Hun's). Essentially the scientific investigations made in the last half of this century brought forward that the Turks belongto the white race and it came out that the Turks - belonging to the "Turanid" type of the "Europid" group.This race isone of the three big race groups on earth - had many different anthropological criteria that separated them in firstline from the "Mongoloid" Mongolians (dominating quality white color, straight nose, round face, lightly curlyhair, middle dense beard and moustache). Furthermore, it is known that the Turkish race as in the Torah narrations is shown from the white race. Turks were shown as white-skinned, dark shiny eyed, round faced ("moon faced, almondeyed"), well-proportioned, strong build men and women who wereshow as a sample of beauty in the sources of the Middle Ages and even in Iranian literature the word "Turk"came to the meaning "beautiful human".

The Beauty of Xiaohe, female mummy ca 1800-1500 B.C. Excavated from Xiaohe (Little River) Cemetery 5, Charqilik (Ruoqiang) County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China

ORIGIN & MEANING OF TRK(TRK KELMESNN KKEN VE MANASI) The ethnonym "Trk may be first mentioned inHerodotus (c. 484425 BCE) work "Targitas. Furthermore, during the first century CE.,Pomponius Melarefers to the "Turcae" in the forests north of theSea of Azov, andPliny the Elderlists the "Tyrcae" among the people of the same area. There are references to certain groups in antiquity whose names could be the original form of Trk/Trk such as Togarma, Turukha/Turuska, Turukku and so on.

But the information gap isso substantial that we cannot firmly connect these ancient people to the modern Turks.It is generally accepted that the term Trk is ultimately derived from the Old-Turkic migration term

Trk or Trk, which means created, born, or strong. This etymological concept is also related to Old Turkic word stems 'tr' ("root, ancestry, race, kind of, sort of"), 'tri-' ("to bring together, to collect"),'tr' ("law, custom") and 'tz' ("substance").

TURKIC PEOPLE TheTurkic peoplesare a collection ofethnic groupsthat live in northern, eastern, central, and western Asia, northwestern China, and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to theTurkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds. The term Turkicrepresents a broadethno-linguistic groupof peoples including existing societies such as theTurkish people, Azerbaijanis, Chuvashes, Kazakhs, Tatars, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Bashkirs, Qashqai, Gagauz, Yakuts, Crimean Karaites, Krymchaks, Karakalpaks, Karachays, Balkars, Nogais. Among all these societies, there are seven Turkic states today: Turkish Republic, Northern Cyprus Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Krgzstan. The following map shows the countries and autonomous regions where a Turkic language has official status and/or is spoken by a majority.

TURKIC STATES IN HISTORY Turkish Presidential Flag has a large 16-pointed star (theSun, symbolizing theRepublic of Turkey) in the center, which is surrounded by 16 five-pointedstars, symbolizing the16 Great Turkish Empiresin history.

TURKIC STATES IN HISTORYGreat Hun Empire (204 BC - 216 AD)Western Hun Empire (48 - 216 AD)European Hun Empire (375 - 469 AD)Ak (White) Hun Empire (420 - 552 AD)Gokturk Empire (552 - 745 AD)Avar Empire (565 - 835 AD)Khazar (Caspian) Empire (651 - 983 AD)Uyghur State (745 - 1368 AD)Karahanli State (940 - 1040 AD)Gazneli Sultanate (962 - 1183 AD)Greater Seljuk Empire (1040 - 1157 AD)Kharzem Shah State (1097 - 1231 AD)The Golden Horde (1236 - 1502 AD)Greater Timur Empire (1368 - 1501 AD)Babur Empire (1526 - 1858 AD)Ottoman Empire (1299 - 1923 AD)