Orientalist: Pan-Turkism is an old and failed idea

ArmInfo.The recent Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States in Istanbul  and especially the map shown on its outcome, in general, do not contain  anything new in themselves. Senior Researcher of the Institute of  World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Orientalist Viktor  Nadein-Raevsky, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

On November 12, at the 8th Summit of the Cooperation Council of  Turkic Speaking States  in Istanbul, Erdogan solemnly renamed the  Turkic Council into the Organization of Turkic States. Currently, the  Organization of Turkic States includes Turkey, Azerbaijan,  Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.  Hungary and Turkmenistan are  participating in its activities as observers.

"I personally don't see any radical shifts in all this - we are  talking about the ambitions of the Turkish society, which has long  become commonplace, nurtured on the appropriate ideology. Such maps  of "Great Turan" are printed in any Turkish textbook. And on the  basis of these maps, children are taught from school that the Turkic  world is inhabited exclusively by Turks. It is clear that such maps  can be regarded as claims of Ankara to the territory of the Russian  Federation. Especially considering that such a policy has enough  supporters in Turkey, and it is supported by the country's  government, "he stressed.  Following the Istanbul Summit of the  Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, Erdogan's coalition  partner, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party Devlet Bahcheli  presented the Turkish president with a "map of the Turkic world",  which covered in whole or in part the territories of 15 countries,  including Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Iran,  Afghanistan, Mongolia and China.

According to the Orientalist, the idea of building the "Great Turan"  originates from the 19th century and includes vast territories that  include not only the area of residence of the Turkic-speaking  peoples.  According to his estimates, "Great Turan" is an empire from  the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. According to Nadein-Raevsky, it  was the Turkish hopes for the implementation of this project, that  led the then Ottoman Empire into the First World War, since Kaiser's  Germany promised support to the Turks in expansion to the Russian  east.  The genocide of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and Yezidis took  place in the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire  itself collapsed, which clearly testifies to what usually happens.  

"I think everyone knows how all these programs ended. The genocide of  Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and Yezidis took place in the territory  of the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire itself collapsed, which  clearly shows how such ambitious ideas are usually crowned. However,  founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal as well, only formally  rejected the idea of the "Great Turan", actually warming pan- Turkism  on the breast of the Turkish Republic. After that Pan-Turkism began  to acquire milder forms, "he stated.

According to the Orientalist, in any case, even today Erdogan's  Turkey is promoting its own pan-Turkist course quite actively,  evidence of which, in addition to all the latest integration  initiatives of Ankara, is the defeat of Armenia in the 44-day war by  joint Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem. In his opinion, without the  participation of the Turkish military, this would be practically  impossible. And as of today the creation of the so-called "Civil  Defense Mechanism" under the Organization of the Turkish States is  the first step towards the formation of the future Turan army.

"Nevertheless, despite all these quite tangible steps of Turkey in  the direction of the Great Turan, I do not see any particular  prospects for its successful implementation. Especially in light of  the apparent reluctance of the leaders of other states of the  potential Turan to share their power with Erdogan.  Erdogan. There  are serious disagreements with Kazakhstan, while Turkmenistan and  Uzbekistan generally prefer to act in the OTS as observer states.   Turkey and Erdogan personally, of course, are trying to present  themselves as the defenders of all Turkic peoples. But for the  implementation of a geopolitical project of such a scale, this is  clearly not enough, " summed up the Orientalist.