16 Great Turkic Empires

The 16 Great Turkic Empires (Turkish: 16 Büyük Türk Devleti, which translates as "16 Great Turkic States") is a concept in Turkish ethnic nationalism, introduced in 1969 by Akib Özbek, map officer^[2] and widely invoked by Turkish authorities during the 1980s, under the government of Kenan Evren. Prior to this assertion, the 16 stars on the Presidential Seal of Turkey had been taken as representing sixteen Anatolian beyliks which succeeded the Seljuk Empire.^[3]

Erdoğan and Abbas with actors representing the 16 Great Turkic Empires (2015)^[1]

Flags of the 16 Great Turkish Empires displayed in the Istanbul Military Museum

The list

The "16 Great Turkic Empires" are the following:

Flag (fictional)^[4]	Name	Turkish name	Leader^[5]	Dates (Gregorian)^[6]
	Xiongnu	Büyük Hun İmparatorluğu	Mete Han	220 BC–46 BC
	South Xiongnu	Batı Hun İmparatorluğu	Panu	48–216
	Hunnic Empire	Avrupa Hun İmparatorluğu	Attila	375–469
	Hephthalite Empire	Akhun İmparatorluğu	Aksunvar	390–577
	Turkic Khaganate	Göktürk İmparatorluğu	Bumin Kağan	551–744
	Avar Khaganate	Avar İmparatorluğu	Bayan Kağan	565–835
	Khazar Khaganate	Hazar İmparatorluğu	Tong Yabgu Kağan	651–983
	Uyghur Khaganate	Uygur Devleti	Kutluğ Kül Bilge Kağan	744–840
	Karakhanid Khanate	Karahanlılar	Kül Bilge Kadir Han	840–1212
	Ghaznavids	Gazneliler	Sabuktigin	977–1186
	Seljuk Empire	Büyük Selçuklu İmparatorluğu	Chagri Bey	1040–1157
	Khwarazmian dynasty	Harzemşahlar	Muhammad II of Khwarezm	1097–1231
	Golden Horde	Altınordu Devleti	Batu Khan	1236–1502
	Timurid Empire	Büyük Timur İmparatorluğu	Timur	1368–1501
	Mughal Empire	Babür İmparatorluğu	Babur	1526–1858
	Ottoman Empire	Osmanlı İmparatorluğu	Osman I	1299–1922

Reception

 

16 stars in the Presidential Seal of Turkey represents each empire.^[a]

Turkish nationalist writer, novelist, poet and philosopher, Hüseyin Nihâl Atsız, supporter of the pan-Turkist or Turanism ideology, had noted that while some states with questionable Turkic identity were included in the list (like the Mughal Empire, some ostensibly Turkic states (such as Aq Qoyunlu) were left out, and labeled the list a "fabrication."^{[8][verification needed]}

In spite of Atsız' criticism, the concept was made a mainstream topos in Turkish national symbolism in the wake of the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, under the presidency of Kenan Evren. The Turkish Postal administration issued a series of stamps dedicated to the 16 Empires in 1984, showing portraits of their respective founders as well as attributed flags.^[4] In 1985, Özbek's 16 Empires were invoked as a retrospective explanation of the 16 stars in the presidential seal of Turkey (introduced in 1936).^[9]

Several municipal buildings and public parks in Turkey have collections of busts or statues of the founders of the "16 Empires" alongside a statue of Kemal Atatürk, including the municipal buildings of Keçiören (Ankara), Mamak, Ankara, Etimesgut, Niğde, Nevşehir, Pınarbaşı, Kayseri, etc.^[5]

In 2000, Türk Telekom produced a series of smart cards dedicated to the topic.^[10]

In January 2015, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the Turkish Presidential Palace with a guard of 16 "warriors", actors wearing loosely historical armour and costume, intended to symbolise the 16 empires.^[11] The costumes were ridiculed in secular Turkish media outlets, and one of the costumes in particular was mocked as a "bathrobe", becoming a trend on social media under the name of Duşakabinoğulları (as it were "sons of the shower cabin" or "showercabinds).^[12]

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of the 16 Great Turkic Empires.

See also

• Pan-Turkism
• Turanism
• Neo-Ottomanism

References

1. Although this view was first time proposed in 1969^[7]

1. France-Presse, Agence (2015-01-12). "Abbas welcomed at Turkish presidential palace by Erdoğan – and 16 warriors". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
2. H. Feridun Demokan, Contemporary Turkey: Geography, History, Economy, Art, Tourism, Demokan, 1978, p. 4. Necdet Evliyagil, Sami Güner, Basın-Yayın Genel Müdürlüğü, Ajans-Türk, Türkiye: Cumhuriyetin 50. Yıl Kitabı, Ajans-Türk Matbaacılık Sanayii, 1973.
3. X. Türk Tarih Kongresi, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1994, p. 2947. (in Turkish))
4. Ivan Sache, Presentation of the Sixteen Great Turkish Empires and their alleged flags, Flags of the World, 4 July 2004; c.f. jpeg of the 1984 stamp series. The flags were designed by Özbek in 1969. They are mostly imaginary, with the exception of the 1844 Ottoman flag, and arguably the wolf's head and the bow-and-arrow used as emblems for the Göktürk and the Seljuk states, respectively. Ekrem Buğra Ekinci, 16 TÜRK DEVLETİ Cumhurbaşkanlığı forsundaki 16 yıldız neyi ifade ediyor?, 2 February 2015.
5. 39°58′41″N 32°52′3″E / 39.97806°N 32.86750°E / 39.97806; 32.86750. Etimesgut Belediyesi kent meydanı için hazırlanan 16 Türk Büyüğü heykelleri. Niğde’nin simgesi Türk Büyükleri heykelleri kaldırılıyor mu? Türk devlet büyükleri Mamak'ta 2016-08-05 at the Wayback Machine Türk Büyükleri Anıtları Yenilendi (Nevşehir). "Pınarbaşı Turkishness Monument" (Pınarbaşı Türklük Anıtı, opened in 2000).
6. Dates as shown in the original document^{[clarification needed][citation needed]}
7. "Fors". Presidency of Türkiye.
8. On line history newspaper ((in Turkish)) 2016-03-21 at the Wayback Machine Nihal Atsız (in Turkish)^{[dead link]}
9. Central Eurasian Studies Review, Vol. 3, Central Eurasian Studies Society, 2004, p. 23
10. Büyük Türk Devletleri [1]
11. "Spear-carriers and chainmail warriors: Erdogan's palace welcome". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
12. "'Duşakabinoğulları' istifa getirdi: O kıyafete 'bornoz' diyen dekan görevinden ayrıldı" (in Turkish). Diken. Retrieved 29 May 2016. "Duşakabinoğulları 3 ay sürmüş!" (in Turkish). Sözcü. Retrieved 29 May 2016. (in Turkish). Birgün. Archived from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved 29 May 2016. The Takvim daily newspaper omitted a label for this particular costume (Western Hunnic Empire) by mistake; diken.com.tr.