Türkana Destanlar

C. CURRENT SITUATION

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At present, there are six sovereign republics recognized by the international community whose titular population consists of Turks or closely-related peoples: Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. A number of states have significant populations of Turks living in national-territorial units claiming various degrees of autonomy or even sovereignty such as the Xinjiang Uighur AR (East Turkistan) in the People's Republic of China ; Bashqortostan, Chuvashia, Tatarstan, Tuva, Yakutia (Saxa), and many others in the Russian Federation; Northern Cyprus; and others. (Perhaps Karakalpakistan in Uzbekistan belongs on this list, too.) Other states have significant populations of Turks without official recognition as national-territorial units such as the Crimea in Ukraine; the Uzbeks in Afghanistan or Tajikistan; the Gagauz in Moldova; the Azeris in Iran; and others.

As a result of exciting intellectual debates in the 19th century and as a result of conscious policies over the course of the 20th century in more than one state, various groups who might be called "Turk" have created distinct literary traditions (even though a unified literary language for most of the Turks was possible until the early Soviet period), distinctive historical traditions, separate national myths, and a culture of mutual suspicion and distrust. The competing ideas of Marjani and Gaspirali (local territorial nation versus common shared identity as [Muslim] Turks) find their resonance today in the attempts by many newly-independent states to revise or (re)create their national myths, while at the same time other groups reexamine the shared linguistic, cultural, and historical heritage that is readily apparent to most Turks. This, however, often comes into conflict with the cherished old and new national myths of the different modern nation-states such as Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It must be said that while the newly-independent states tend to focus on (re)building their new nations, they are sometimes resentful of the message that there is no difference between the Turks of Turkey and the Turks of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and other regions, or that the Turks of Turkey should place a role of leadership among all the Turks. For this reason communication between members of all the various groups of Turks is all the more important.

posted by Altas @ 7:12 ÖS