Adgezal Mamedov, Lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations of Western Caspian University, Chairman of the "Baku-Seoul Bridge" public organization
Today Russia plays one of the most significant roles in the creation of a multipolar world and has a significant impact on the process of formation of the Greater Eurasia. At the same time, we are witnessing a trend towards the decline of European civilisation. This allows us to suggest that in time its place may be taken by other civilisations. Undoubtedly, among them will be Far Eastern civilisations: Chinese and Indian, but also, undoubtedly, Russian. However, we are very likely to see a new dawn of the Turkic civilisation.
And it makes sense for Russia to establish not only to establish contact with it and its main centres, but also, if possible, to understand the direction of joint further evolution. The participation of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other Slavic-Turkic states is crucial for the initiation of the process to establish a new geopolitical agency/entity. This is particularly the case given that our countries are already beginning to develop a new understanding of what self-sufficient Eurasian states should be and how these states can strengthen their interaction creating a common and powerful Eurasian economic base and a new mega-civilisational community – the “people of Eurasia”.
When the book «The End of History and the Last Man» by American philosopher and political scientist Francis Fukuyama was published in 1992, it seemed to many that the competition was over, there was no alternative to the American way of development and, consequently, the geopolitical struggle and related contradictions would gradually fade into the past. As we see now, this was not the case.
Therefore it is therefore not surprising that under the new conditions Russia has taken a course to create a geopolitical construct based on the shared economic interests and cultural and historical orientations of the countries of the Eurasian continent. It is also understandable that modern Eurasians are reconsidering the role of Turkic peoples in Russian history. Their merit lies not only in the fact that they included the Turkic world in its history, but also in the fact that they looked at history itself not from the viewpoint of the West, through the eyes of Europeans and from the position of Eurocentrism, but as if from another world – Turkic, steppe, Asian.
In other words, from the natural environment of many thousands of years of Eurasia as the cradle of the world. This has enriched Russian science, made it possible to realise some aspects of the formation of the Russian national character, the Russian historical process and, in particular, a number of aspects of the relationship between Russia and Turkic cultures, where the Azerbaijani culture is an integral part.
In this regard, proponents of the Russian concept of modern Eurasianism placed significant emphasis on the geographical factor, particularly the expansive steppe regions of Eurasia (which, it should be noted it is the ancestral homeland of all Turkic peoples). At the same time, they introduced a new concept, the “steppe factor,” which they considered to be central and determining to the life of society. It was in the steppe, and not in the “forest” or “river” zone, that forms of power, thinking and psychology not common to other cultures were developed, as evidenced by the Turkic peoples (according to the Eurasians).
It can be observed that the Russian national type can be observed to exhibit Turkic motives of behaviour, including the mass and irrationality of political movements, observed until today. This all this influenced the national character of Russians, and the formation of the nation occurred simultaneously with the formation of the empire on the vast expanses of the continent that left an imprint on the course of Russian history.
Since ancient times the nomadic tribes of the Turks formed strong state organizations, which were engaged not only engaged in frequent fights with their neighbours, the Chinese, but also, as historical facts show, were very educated and had their own written language. The Türks absorbed into their history the main world religions, which exist to this day. And although the majority of them are followers of Islam, some of them profess other religions as well. For example, Chuvash and Gagauz are Christians; Tuvinians are Buddhists; Karaites are Jews, etc.
Looking at the history of Russia, it is difficult to overestimate the influence of the Turkic nobles who converted to Orthodoxy. However, some even retained the Muslim faith, which did not prevent them from faithfully serving the Russian throne. Turkic languages were known not only to many prominent figures in Russia, including military commanders Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov, writer Leo Tolstoy, diplomat Nikolay Ignatyev, and general Lavr Kornilov, but also to entire classes of Russian society, such as the Cossacks, whose lives and everyday activities were significantly influenced by Turkic steppe cultural traditions. The Cossacks, who had the most frequent contact with Turks, never held anti-Turkish sentiments as well as the entire Russian society.
My recently published book “Slavic-Turkish-Aryan areal and its geostrategic imperatives” outlines the basic ideas of our unity and continuity of states existing within the Eurasian space: Scythia – Sarmatia – the Hunnic Empire – the Turkic Kaganate –Khazaria, the Great Bulgaria – the Mongol Empire (which is more correctly called Tatar) – the Russian Empire – the USSR.
The ruling people changed, the Turks and Slavs came to the fore, but the borders of the state always remained unchanged – from the Vistula and Carpathians in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. This empire existed from ancient times and still exists today as a union of Turkic and Slavic peoples. If we consider the ideas of Slavic-Turkic unity in historical retrospect, first it is necessary to recall the prominent orientalist scholar Mirza Kazem-Bek (Alexander Kasimovich Kazem-Bek (1802–1870)). Mirza Kazem-Bek was an Azerbaijani Turk, son of the renowned religious figure Haji Gasim. He became one of the founders of oriental studies in Russia.
It was at his suggestion that the teaching of Azerbaijani Turkic language at the university level, along with other Oriental languages, began at St Petersburg University. In 1868 Mirza Kazem-Bek initiated an academic movement in Russian scientific circles to study linguistics and ethnography of Turkestan. Mirza Kazem-Bek was a friend of Leo Tolstoy, the celebrated Russian writer and taught him Arabic and Persian languages. He was also on friendly terms with the prominent Russian writers Chernyshevsky and Nekrasov. Mirza Kazem-Bek’s most significant works were devoted to Islam, including «Complete Concordance of Quran».
This topic was reflected also in a number of works by great Russian poets and writers: Alexander Pushkin’s “The Prisoner of the Caucasus”, Mikhail Lermontov’s “Ashik Kerib” and “The Hero of Our Time”, Leo Tolstoy’s “The Raid”, “The Cossacks”, and “Hadji Murat”, Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky’s “Mulla-nur” and “Ammalat-bek”, and others.
The foundations of Eurasianism and its connection with the Turkic civilisation were laid down in the work of the linguist Prince Nikolay Trubetskoy “Europe and Mankind”, in the works of musicologist Pyotr Suvchinsky, economist and geographer Pyotr Savitsky, scientist and writer Lev Gumilev, critic and publicist Sergei Efron and other writers and researchers.
All of them believed that the roots of Russian statehood could can be traced back to the Scythian era, that is, it had much in common with the Turkic world. The idea of Slavic-Turkic unity was also put forward at the time by the Russian diplomat, philosopher, writer and literary critic Konstantin Leontiev. It is also important to acknowledge that the ideas of Eurasian integration and Slavic-Turkic unity are currently being resisted by some geopolitical players. For instance, the
United States is encouraging Ankara to unite non-governmental organizations of the Turkic-speaking countries and strengthen their activities against Eurasian integration projects as well as to strengthen the leadership of the Turkic-speaking republics at the expense of the pro-American part of the establishment.
Another country that plays with the Turkic factor is Israel. When discussing the Turkic theme, this important player is often overlooked. In fact, the former Caucasian people – the Khazars – were associated with Judaism. Shortly before 860 under Hagan Bulan, the Khazars, after temporary conversion to Christianity, partially adopted Jewish religion. “There are seven judges, – wrote the Arab historian Al-Masudi, – two for the Khazar Mohammedans, where the court is made according to the Shariah, two for the Khazar-Jews, where the court is made according to the law of Moses, two for the Khazar-Christians, where the judgement is made according to the Gospel, one for the Slavs, Russians and other pagans, who are judged according to pagan laws”.
We should not forget Hungary, whose Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a “Turanian direction”, overseen by the head of the Department of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Every year, the Magyar-Turan Foundation holds a Kurultai, and its chairman, anthropologist András Zsolt Bíró, has been studying the history of Turkic peoples for many years and believes that the Hungarians are of Turkic origin: “ The ancestors of the Hungarians roamed where is now the territory of Kazakhstan. At that time, the ethnonyms “Hungarians” and “Kazakhs” did not exist. By the way, we call ourselves Magyars.
There are several theories about the origin of this word. It could be the name of a tribe or a group of tribes. It is known that the Magyars live on the territory of Kazakhstan, today they are a part of the Middle Zhuz. It could also be the name one of the leaders, given that Kazakhs have the name Madiyar. Or maybe it is a title of a leader, the same as sultan or amir”.
Finally, one cannot ignore the Turkic factor on the political scene in China. The Uyghurs, the Turkic-speaking people of China, constitute the majority of the population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China. Prominent Kazakhstani sinologist Konstantin Syroezhkin states: «Many activists of the Uyghur diaspora abroad are in favour of creating an independent state, would be “East Turkestan” or “Uyghurstan”. The Uyghur diaspora living outside China is sufficiently organized and has close ties with international organizations and compatriots in XUAR, as well as with theт governments and politicians of the countries in which it resides».
We can see that a number of geopolitical players on the global arena may potentially exploit the Turkic factor in order to achieve their strategic objectives. However, there is no doubt that Russia will continue to be the dominant power in the region, where Slavic and Turkic ethnicities have merged. The vast area between Lake Baikal and the Black Sea was and has continued to be the home of Slavic and Turkic peoples.
The Slavic-Turkic world is not an artificial construct; it is literally a call of the blood. It is crucial to recognise the value of collaboration between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, based on a long history of relations. This is beneficial for each of the participants and for the wider association. In this context, we believe that the most important factor is the level of conscious historical, humanitarian and cultural ties between the peoples of the Eurasian civilisation.
Eurasian civilization is the product of cultural, ethical, ethnic, political, trade, military and other interactions between our peoples. The accumulated historical and cultural heritage is so impressive that we can rely on it as a solid foundation, which can be rightfully called the legacy of our ancestors. The current situation is already forcing us to take a new approach to this problem. This entails taking into account the balance of positions, objectively comprehending what is happening and studying the new challenges of our region in an unbiased manner.
This process is already underway. There is growing support for the idea of a sovereign Eurasia. The peoples of our region have an objective interest in strengthening relations between our countries. This is the social order of our societies. Therefore, we have no doubt that the Slavic-Turkic Union is not only a geopolitical hypothesis, but also one of the most promising integration associations in the nearest future.
Adgezal Nuru oglu Mamedov is an Azerbaijani researcher, Chairman of the «Baku-Seoul Bridge» public organization and the Unity of the Slavic-Turkic World movement, and a lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations of Western Caspian University. As an analyst, he has been a leader in the fi elds of psychoportraitology, mental portraitology and psychogeopolitics for many years. Psychogeopolitics in international relations is a vital and rapidly developing fi eld of study that analyses the interaction between geographical, mental, political and other factors with the aim of using the results of this analysis to shape development strategies.
It is the interplay of mental factors and objective socio-political and economic phenomena that directly influence the trajectory of historical events. In the presented article, the formation of Eurasian civilization and the role of Slavic-Turkic unity in Eurasian integration are considered in the context of historical and cultural developments, as well as in the light of contemporary realities.