Pan Turkism Turkey And The Muslim Peoples Of The Former Soviet Union

The dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in the creation of six new Muslim nations in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as increased activism of Muslim peoples within the Russian federation. In all, there are more than 54 million Muslims in the former Soviet Union, more than 90 percent of whom are Turkish, with the remainder being Iranian (Tajik) and a small number of Caucasians. Little is known about these peoples in the West, but many tout Turkey as a role model for the new Muslim nations to follow. This paper looks at the origins and historical development of the Muslim peoples of the former Soviet Union. It traces the formation of the great Turk and Mongol/Turkish empires of pre-Russian times, conflict and assimilation by the Russians, the spread of Islam, and the influences of the Soviet era. The paper also reviews the formation and impact of the pan-Islamic, Islamic modernization (Jadid), and pan-Turkish movements in Russia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and discusses their relevance to the events occurring in the former Soviet Union today. While many have forecast the formation of a new Turkish empire from the remnants of the Soviet empire, the paper discusses the impracticality of such a vision and the impact history will have on the direction the Muslim peoples of the former Soviet Union will take in the future.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in the creation of six new Muslim nations in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as increased activism of Muslim peoples within the Russian federation. In all, there are more than 54 million Muslims in the former Soviet Union, more than 90 percent of whom are Turkish, with the remainder being Iranian (Tajik) and a small number of Caucasians. Little is known about these peoples in the West, but many tout Turkey as a role model for the new Muslim nations to follow. This paper looks at the origins and historical development of the Muslim peoples of the former Soviet Union. It traces the formation of the great Turk and Mongol/Turkish empires of pre-Russian times, conflict and assimilation by the Russians, the spread of Islam, and the influences of the Soviet era. The paper also reviews the formation and impact of the pan-Islamic, Islamic modernization (Jadid), and pan-Turkish movements in Russia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and discusses their relevance to the events occurring in the former Soviet Union today. While many have forecast the formation of a new Turkish empire from the remnants of the Soviet empire, the paper discusses the impracticality of such a vision and the impact history will have on the direction the Muslim peoples of the former Soviet Union will take in the future.

Landau's book is important in several respects... it provides exhaustive information on almost every pan-Turk publication and all of its authors and publicists. Landau appears to have consulted every conceivable source, including archives and collections... In addition, the book is useful to students of pan-nationalism and nationalism, for Landau also expertly places all his information into a larger theoretical context. This contribution to the literature is invaluable. -- Journal of Developing Areas... a most worthwhile work, ... It... deserves to be in all library collections on the Middle East. -- Perspectives on Political ScienceLandau has provided an up-to-date compendium of facts concerning the history of these nationalist ideas and movements. Students of nationalism in general and the politics of post-Soviet Central Asia and the Turkish Republic in particular will remain greatly indebted to [Landau] for some considerable time. -- American Political Science ReviewAn examination of relations between Turks in Turkey and their kin abroad -- in Cyprus, the Balkans, and especially in the six ex-Soviet Muslim republics in the Caucasus and Central Asia. This book delineates the special relationship between the new republics and Turkey, which has altered the essence of Pan-Turkism from militant irredentism to practical solidarity in matters political, economic, and cultural.

Turkism and the Soviets (1957) uses Turkish, Russian and Western sources to present a remarkable study of the Turkish world and its importance in international relations. It thoroughly examines the two factors which give this huge ethnic group its great importance – the strategic position of their territories and secondly their homogeneity and common objectives. Throughout this book the role of the Turkish peoples is examined as an issue intimately connected with the problem of the USSR and Communism. The southern border of the Soviet Union divides the Turkish world into two halves and partially cuts through the living area of the Turkish people. This is the area which contains the most important Soviet oil fields. The section of the book which deals with the splintering away of the Turkic portions of the USSR is of vital importance.

Turks Across Empires tells the story of the pan-Turkists, Muslim activists from Russia who gained international notoriety during the Young Turk era of Ottoman history. Yusuf Akçura, Ismail Gasprinskii and Ahmet Agaoglu are today remembered as the forefathers of Turkish nationalism, but in the decade preceding the First World War they were known among bureaucrats, journalists and government officials in Russia and Europe as dangerous Muslim radicals. This volume traces the lives and undertakings of the pan-Turkists in the Russian and Ottoman empires, examining the ways in which these individuals formed a part of some of the most important developments to take place in the late imperial era. James H. Meyer draws upon a vast array of sources, including personal letters, Russian and Ottoman state archival documents, and published materials to recapture the trans-imperial worlds of the pan-Turkists. Through his exploration of the lives of Akçura, Gasprinskii and Agaoglu, Meyer analyzes the bigger changes taking place in the imperial capitals of Istanbul and St. Petersburg, as well as on the ground in central Russia, Crimea and the Caucasus. Turks Across Empires focuses especially upon three developments occurring in the final decades of empire: an explosion in human mobility across borders, the outbreak of a wave of revolutions in Russia and the Middle East, and the emergence of deeply politicized forms of religious and national identity. As these are also important characteristics of the post-Cold War era, argues Meyer, the events surrounding the pan-Turkists provide valuable lessons regarding the nature of present-day international and cross-cultural geopolitics.

This book examines the Kemalist ideology of Turkey from two perspectives. It discusses major problems in the existing interpretations of the topic and how the incorporation of Soviet perspectives enriches the historiography and our understanding of that ideology. To address these questions, the book looks into the origins, evolution, and transformational phases of Kemalism between the 1920s and 1970s. The research also focuses on perspectives from abroad by observing how republican Turkey and particularly its founding ideology were viewed and interpreted by Soviet observers. Paying more attention to the diplomatic, geopolitical, and economic complexities of Turkish-Soviet relations, scholars have rarely problematized those perceptions of Turkish ideological transformations. Looking at various phases of Soviet attitudes towards Kemalism and its manifestations through the lenses of Communist leaders, party functionaries, diplomats and scholars, the book illuminates the underlying dynamics of Soviet interpretations.