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Epic of Ergenekon

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Revision as of 13:05, 2 July 2013 by R'n'B (talk | contribs) (Fix links to disambiguation page Turk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For the alleged organization within Turkey, see Ergenekon (organization).

Ergenekon or Ergeneqon (Persian: ارگنه قون; Ergene Qūn) is the name of the place where Nekuz and Qiyan and their wives escaped to, and who were the original Turks in Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh written by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani at the beginning of the 14th century. In the 17th century, Abulghazi Bahadur, who was a descendant of Shiban and the khan of the Khanate of Khiva from 1643–63, mentioned Ergenekon as the Mongolian creation myth in his work named Shajara-i turk (Genealogy of the Turk).

Some Turkish researchers claim its Turkic origins with similarities between the creation myths of Göktürks (Bozkurt Destanı: Chinese texts and Turkish translations) and the Ergenkon epic. The first individual to compare Abulghazi Bahadur's Ergenekon epic with the creation myth of the Göktürks was Joseph de Guignes, however, the respective creation myths of the Göktürks and Mongols are completely different from one another. According to the Turkish mythology, Ergenekon is the name of the legendary valley, which according to Turkic mythology was a place of refuge in which the Turks were trapped for four centuries until a blacksmith melted some rocks and opened a gate so that a gray wolf called Börteçine could lead them out. Since then a New Year's ceremony is celebrated commemorating the legendary ancestral escape from Ergenekon. Ergenekon fits what is written in Chinese sources about the origins of the Göktürks (Epic of Asena: Chinese texts and Turkish translations)

Turkification

Translations and poems

In the late Ottoman era, the Ergenekon epic was used in Turkish literature, especially by the Turkish nationalist movement for describing a mythical place located in the inaccessible valleys of the Altay Mountains.

In 1864 Ahmed Vefik Pasha translated Shajara-i turk into the Ottoman language under the title Şecere-i Evşâl-i Türkiyye and it was published in Tasvir-i Efkâr newspaper. Ziya Gökalp wrote the poem concerned with Ergenekon epic in the context of Turkic history (Turkish text of Ergenekon poem of Ziya Gökalp). It was published under the title of "Türk An'anesi: Ergenekon" in Türk Duygusu magazine (May 8, 1913 - June, 5 1913) dated May 8, 1913, Altın Armağan in September 1913 and under the title of "Ergenekon" in Kızılelma in 1914. Ömer Seyfettin also wrote a poem concerning the Ergenekon epic. It was published in Halka Doğru magazine dated April 9, 1914. Rıza Nur translated Shajara-i turk into modern Turkish in 1925 and mentioned Ergenekon in Oğuznâme published in Alexandria in 1928.

Turkish History Thesis and Ergenekon Legend

During early republican era of Turkey, especially in 1930s, when ethnic nationalism held its sway in Turkey, Bozkurt, Asena and Ergenekon were selected deliberately and under the influence of the theory of Turkish ethnocentrism named Turkish History Thesis, Ergenekon was described as the creation myth of Göktürks in the textbooks of history.

In 1933, Şevket Süreyya Aydemir, a Turkish intellectual and one of the founders and a key theorist of Kadro movement, used Ergenekon epic to consubstantiate with the Turkish revolution.

Moreover, in the new Turkish version of Egenekon Legend (Turkish: Ergenekon Destanı), the motif of Gray Wolf (Turkish: Bozkurt) was added (Turkish text, the version of Ministry of National Education of Turkey).

Criticisms about falsity

According to Prof. Dr. Ahmed Yüksel Özemre, a Turkish scientist and former chairman of Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, Râşid Erer (d. 1952), once-Ottoman minister of Education, criticized this falsity and argues that Ergenekon Legend might be written by a Jew. He was also angered by the notions that Huns and Mongols are Turkic peoples, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

According to Prof. Dr. Mümtaz’er Türköne, a Turkish political scientist and a columnist, Ergenekon is not a myth that is genuinely long-standing and rooted in the collective memory, but an elaborate hoax. He argues that the Ergenekon was created as a Turkish national myth by Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, a prominent man of letters and friend to Atatürk during the Turkish War of Independence. and that no trace of the story of the Ergenekon Legend has been found in the Ottoman and Seljuk dynasties. He insisted that the Ministry of National Education should immediately mop up the falsity in these textbooks.


References

  1. Devin A. DeWeese, Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tükles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition, Penn State Press, 1994, ISBN 9780271010731, p. 273.
  2. Jiexian Chen, Guoli Taiwan daxue, Proceedings of the Fifth East Asian Altaistic Conference, December 26, 1979 – January 2, 1980, Taipei, China, National Taiwan University, 1980. According to Reshideddin's record original Mongols, historically, were divided in two parts. They are: 1. Those branches descended from the Original Mongol Tribes, which had been in ارکننه قون Ergenekon… Those tribes are: The origin of Mongols were descendants from these two persons, Nekuz and Qiyan and their wifes who escaped to Ergenkon. Template:En icon
  3. ^ Bahaeddin Ögel, Türk Mitolojisi Vol. I, Milli Eğitim basımevi, İstanbul, 1971., Türk Mitolojisi I: 'Kaynakları ve Açıklamaları İle Destanlar, Tütk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara, 1989, pp. 14–5. Template:Tr icon
  4. ^ Dursun Yıldırım, "Ergenekon Destanı", Türkler, Vol. 3, Yeni Türkiye, Ankara, 2002, ISBN 9756782366, pp. 527–43. Template:Tr icon
  5. Bahaaddin Ögel, "Doğu Göktürkleri Hakkında Vesikalar ve Notlar", Belleten, XXI/81, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1957, p. 105. Template:Tr icon
  6. Ibid, p. 109.
  7. Oriental Institute of Cultural and Social Research, Vol. 1-2, 2001, p.66
  8. İbrahim Aksu: The story of Turkish surnames: an onomastic study of Turkish family names, their origins, and related matters, Volume 1, 2006 , p.87
  9. H. B. Paksoy, Essays on Central Asia, 1999, p.49
  10. Andrew Finkle, Turkish State, Turkish Society, Routledge, 1990, p.80
  11. Michael Gervers, Wayne Schlepp: Religion, customary law, and nomadic technology, Joint Centre for Asia Pacific Studies, 2000, p.60
  12. Murat Ocak, The Turks: Early ages, 2002, pp.76
  13. Dursun Yıldırım, "Ergenekon Destanı", Türkler, Vol. 3, Yeni Türkiye, Ankara, 2002, ISBN 975-6782-36-6, pp. 527–43.
  14. Abu'l-Gâzî, Şecere-i Evşâl-i Türkiyye, , Dersaadet, 1864.
  15. ^ İsa Özkan, "Ergenekon Destanı Hakkında", Türk Yurdu, Cilt: 29, Sayı: 265, Eylül 2009, pp. 43–7. Template:Tr icon
  16. Mehmed Ziya, "Ergenekon", Türk Duygusu, no. 1, pp. 7-10.
  17. "Ergenekon", Altın Armağan, no. 1 (Türk Yurdu, no. 24's supplement, Istanbul, 1328), p. 20.
  18. Beşir Ayvazoğlu, "Ziya Gökalp'ın Ergenekon'u", Zaman, August 6, 2009, Retrieved July 24, 2010. Template:Tr icon
  19. Ziya Gökalp, Ziya Gökalp Külliyatı I: Şiirler ve Halk Masalları, haz. Fevziye Abdullah Tansel, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara, 1989, s. xlii, 78-83. Template:Tr icon
  20. Ali Duymaz, Ömer Seyfettin'in Kaleme Aldığı Destanlar Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme", Balıkesir Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisicilt:12, sayı: 21, Haziran 2009, p. 415. Template:Tr icon
  21. Abu'l Gâzî, Şecere-i Türk, , İstanbul, 1925.
  22. Metin Özarslan, "Oğuz Kağan Destanı'nda Tarihî, Dinî, Beşerî ve Tabiatüstü Unsurlar", Prof. Dr. Dursun Yıldırım Armağanı, Ankara, 1998, p. 426. Template:Tr icon
  23. Murat Arman, "The Sources of Banality In Transforming Turkish Nationalism", CEU Political Science Journal, issue: 2 (2007), p. 136.
  24. Türk Tarihinin Ana Hatları, Kaynak Yayınları, 1999, ISBN 975-343-118-X; p. 380. (first edition: 1930) Template:Tr icon
  25. Tarih II: Kemalist Eğitimin Tarih Dersleri (1931 - 1941), Kaynak Yayınları, 2001, ISBN 975-343-319-0, p. 44. (first edition: 1931) Template:Tr icon
  26. İlhan Tekeli, Selim İlkin, Kadrocuları ve Kadro'yu anlamak, Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 2003, ISBN 9789753331708, p. 219. Template:Tr icon
  27. Beşir Ayvazoğlu, "Ergenekon yurdun adı", Zaman, January 31, 2008, Retrieved July 24, 2010. Template:Tr icon
  28. Ahmed Yüksel Özemre, Galatasarayı Mekteb-i Sultânî'sinde sekiz yılım, Kubbealtı, 2006, ISBN 9789756444351, p. 66. Template:Tr icon
  29. Doç.Dr. Mümtazer TÜRKÖNE, Gazi University
  30. Mümtaz'er Türköne, "Ergenekon Efsanesi kime ait?", Zaman, February 22, 2009, Retrieved July 20, 2010. Template:Tr icon, Turkish text: Ergenekon, bir Türk efsanesi olarak Kurtuluş Savaşı sırasında Yakup Kadri tarafından icat edilmiştir.
  31. Türköne, ibid Template:Tr icon, Turkish text: Osmanlı'da, Selçuklu'da en küçük izine rastlanmayan bir hikâye...
  32. Türköne, ibid Template:Tr icon, Turkish text: Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı'nın bu sahtelikleri ders kitaplarından acilen temizlemesi lâzım.

External Sources

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