This article considers issues related to the role of Turkey in the development of the national liberation movements in the national outskirts of the Russian Empire on the basis of various sources. In particular, it draws attention to the development of the ideas of Pan-Turkism, Islamism, as well as others, including the national-democratic ideas of «Alash.The views and opinions of the representatives of the national intellectuals of that time regarding Turkey, Turkey's relations with the Turkic peoples subordinated to the Russian Empire are considered. For a number of reasons and circumstances, this problem has not been properly developed in historical science. While writing this work, along with other sources, the materials of the state archive of the Orenburg region of the Russian Federation were used.
At the beginning of XX century in Kazakhstan, as in other colonial «outskirts of the Russian Empire» process of national liberation movements aimed at gaining political sovereignty was actively developing. The development of this process to a great extent was influenced by a number of factors. First, historical factor played the important role, where the spirit of national identity, supported by centuries of struggle against the military and colonial expansion of the Russian empire kept in historical memory of the people, generated new ideas and energies in the struggle forstatehood. Second, an important source of development of the national movement was the cultural and scientific enlightenment, which subsequently politicized. In this sense, it should be noted that the national movement in this period did not develop spontaneously, but even had clear political goals. The movement was leaded by ideologues from among the representatives of nationalintelligentsia.
In general, problems connected with the national liberation wars and movements are ones of the important aspects in the national historiography. And today in the modern national historical science it has been accumulated a whole layer of scientific research of different periods of historiography devoted to this issue. Nevertheless, in view of the multifaceted relevance and insufficient illumination of various aspects of the issue, there are plenty of understudied aspects of this field. In this perspective, one of the interesting questions remains a problem of Turkey’s influence on the development of the national liberation movement of the Turkic peoples who were at the beginning of XX century in the orbit of the tsarist empire statehood.This problem in historical science has not found the proper development due to a number of reasons and circumstances. First, it was connected with the fact that tsarist Russia for a long time was at war with Turkey. In this regard, the relevance of this problem is alsoconditioned by the fact that Russia’s history is closely connected with the history of the Turkic peoples, and it marks an imprint on the modern inter-ethnic, inter-state ties between Russia and the Turkic peoples and states. Also, even today we without doubt accept and «consume» ideas based on the affinity of history, culture and geography.
But sometimes while considering these ideas, we miss or do not «notice» the fact that they were formatted, otherwise ordered by the political process. Today certain scientific communities talking about the fate of Eurasia within the Eurasian theory,develop in the society thoughts on such subjects as «Big Kazakhstan», revival of «pan-Turkism» , formation of ideas or turanismand pan-turanism [see for example, 1]. Aspects of such addition determine the need of focusing on the affected subject. It is necessary to understand and realize what happened in the past, and what we need at this stage to strengthen ourstatehood.
Second, the problem of national liberation movements in the imperial period, and during the Soviet times was under special supervision, and was at odds with the official state «colonial» ideology. Accordingly, the issues related to national liberation movements and wars were also under an embargo.
This is due to the fact that the Russian Empire and later the Soviets were apprehensive aboutthe collapse of the empire on ethno-territorial basis. Therefore, in order to avoid this kind of process, they used all
possible and impossible methods, in particular: policy of Russification, complex of measures extinguishing the historical memory of the people, repression of national intelligentsia and elite of the people, and so on.
We has to agree that the socialist system as a social phenomenon is an artificial system, and therefore force, violent methods and «costs» of inhuman attitude to the representatives of colonized peoples manifested. Such a situation in due time was represented by K. Popper, who proves the totalitarian essence of Soviet state. According to his point of view, large-scale repressions wereimmanently inherent in the nature of the Soviet state. In other words, only by carrying out mass repressions against its own people, the socialist state, in defiance of common sense,would be able to survive at least temporarily [2].
Obviously, this is one side of the « costs» of socialist system. But there is another side. It needs to say that no matter how the story developed, humanistic attitude to humankindis not a today phenomenon. Therefore, we should recognize and take into account established political « colonial ideology» of the empire, customized for the humanist idea «about Russia’s role in civilizationprogress in Asia and the East» [see 3-6]. After the fall of the tsarist regime, this colonial ideology did not disappeared, but in a different shape passed to the Bolsheviks, but the methods and mechanisms for the destruction of foreign ethno-political manifestation remained unchanged. Evidences of this vision are aplenty.
Speaking about the national movements, it should be noted that one of the important components, according to which people’s all sorts of desire aimed at acquisition and restoration of independence is treated as a national liberation movement, is the presence of ideas and their carriers. For example, among the national movements of a number of Turkic peoples covered by the orbit of the Russian imperial state at the beginning of XX century,there were ideas which developed on the basis of such direction as pan-Islamism, panTurkism, and the idea of Kazakh consolidation around the idea of Alash.
The spread of Islamism, pan-Turkism and other ideas among all Turkic-Muslim peoples, including Kazakhs, was typical for that period. But the Kazakhs, unlike other Turkic peoples, in the future built the idea of unity of all Kazakhs under the idea of Alash, which later turned into a nationwide movement.
This explanation is motivated by the fact that the idea of Alash in the national liberation movement of Kazakhs at the beginning of XX century was the main vector in acquisition of independence. Therefore, we denote this point in advance, so as not to mislead readers.
It should be said that the national intelligentsia, which included Alikhan Bukeikhanov, although put certain hopes on Turkey in the development of the national movement, understood that Turkey itself was in close hostile environment of European Christian states and was trying to survive itsown independence. And, accordingly, it has no time to help other fraternal peoples. At the same time Bukeikhanov A. openly stated his disapproval of the situation in the Balkans. In particular A. Bukeikhanov felt indignation at the fact that Russia was going to take part in the Balkan War, as hesaw in the behavior of the Bulgarians, Serbs, Montenegrinsand Greeks more infamy than the Turks [7; 49, 50]. In another article A. Bukeikhanov considerednecessarythe existence of Istanbul as bulwark of hope for defenseless peoples, and in case of passing Istanbul into possession of Russia, undoubtedly it would bring a lot of problems not only for themselves, but also the other Balkan peoples [8; 301, 302 ].
As regards to the development of pan-Islamism and pan-Turkism ideas it is necessary to find out the origins, or we may say, the foundation. And in that moment it was Turkey. First, Turkey led for a long time the war with Russia. From this position, Turkey was interested in crushing the Russian Empire from the inside, and in this respect the use of force of colonized Turkic peoples was no exception. In turn, the Turkic peoples had seen in Turkey a bulwark of hope and strongly supported the relationship with Turkey, from which side it was provided in a certain way. First of all, by the spread of different ideas. The idea of pan-Islamism rose across the Russification policy of tsarism, that is, Islam has not been used as a basis for cultural development, but was intended to become a counterweight against the tsarist policy of Russification. For example, one of the writers of that period Muhamet-Aga Shahtahtinskyin 2296 issue of the «Russia» newspaper wrote about Dzhamalyatdin Afghansky and his opinion in the field of pan-Islamism: «Indian Muslims recognize the need of Turkey’s existence in policy for saving Islamreligion». By the way, the first founder of the idea of pan-Islamism sheik Dzhamalyatdin Afghanskywas of a different opinion of panIslamism. Sheik Dzhamalyatdin didn’t look at Turkey and its sultanlike on the pillar of Islam, but vice versa, he did not like the Turks and did not attach any importance to the Sultan from a religious point of view. Direction of sheik Dzhamalyatdin Afghansky is short and clear. He said Muslims: «The Europeans took your country and sat down around your neck, meanwhile you are the same people as the Europeans, they oppress you in terms of policy and suck your blood in economical sense. To protect ourselves from such violence is a duty of self-love. Who enduresthat he is treated as a servant, he should consider himself disgraced. You must
take all measures to live like Europeans freely and independently. You, Muslims, being in slavery at the Europeans, except the religious unity, still have in common that you endure insults from the Europeans, so you love each other and help each other. Let also people who are at the head help each other». Sheik Dzhamalyatdin spread among Muslims ideas of political freedom and national independence, but not the feeling of hostility to Christians and Europeans. He even admitted it necessary that Muslims had more ties with Christians in economic terms. According to him, Islam « is a religion that allows Muslims to have good relations with other nations» . In 1880 he visited Russia to conclude an alliance with it [9; 100, 101].
Considerable importance to the development of enlightenment, then the national liberation movement was brought by a development of the idea of unity of all Turkic peoples, known as the idea of «PanTurkism» . This idea was spread among the population of the Muslims of East of Russian empire by means of pan-turkists’ efforts, as well as editions published on the territory of Turkey. Magazine» Turk-Yurdy» (World of Turks), which was being published in Constantinople, was recognized by the tsarist authorities as the most harmful in Muslim press. This magazine had numerous subscribers among Muslims of Russia and was retailed in bookstores. This magazine was beingpublishedby a famous Yusuf-bek Akchurin together with two pan-Turkists: Ahmet-bek Agaev and Gali-bek Husaynov [10; 228, 229].
On the issue of «Pan-Turkism» development in Russia it should be noted that the idea of «PanTurkism» was conducted very carefully and in fact initially was limited to the extent of scientific research on the etymology and origin of the Turkic peoples living in Empire colonial outskirts. The most characteristic articles,marked by the imprint of the ideas of «Pan-Turkism», were published in such newspapers of that period as «Vakyt» and in the magazine «Shura». So in one issue of the newspaper «Vakyt» dated from April 30,1913 objecting to the article published in the 2271 issue of the newspaper «Russia», which stated that
«among the Russian Muslims there is no other national communication except of the religious, which is proved by the fact e.g. Ossetians, Sart, Turkmens, Ingush, Circassians and the Kazan Tatars when meeteach other do not understand the language. Except for the small tribes in the Caucasus, all Russian Muslims are pure Turks. This is a historical truth. Even the Russian scientists do not deny that the existing name for the Tatars – «Tatars» there is nothing more than a historical mistake. As for their language, the language of all these tribes is Turkic,and a slight difference in the dialect of these peoples is explained by the fact that they live far from each other and therefore, have no communication. However, this does not prevent their unification».
The magazine «Shura» of 1912 in №2 and 3 published article entitled «We are Turks», in which the author writes that the steady habit to call Tatars – «Tatars» is «simply the result of scientific misunderstanding, maybe even malice». Further, the anonymous author says: «Let all who resents the fact that we are talking about Turkism and tatarismrefer to the history of his people, then he will find the reason of our speech. Our peoples have forgotten their history and therefore, in case of any adversity or disaster, there is no mutual aid, because they do not know each other and are considered strangers. Therefore, to be able to live in the future our people must know each other, acquirea brotherhood, understand the literature and history» [10; 228, 229].
From the above reasoning it is clear that Turkey’s ties and interests among the Turkic peoples of the Russian Empire had a firm foundation for development. Based on archival documents, number of visits of Turkish representatives of the Russian Empire, namely, the Tatars, Bashkirs and others were recorded. At the same time those persons who visited Turkey were controlled too. For example, the head of Search Bureau in the city Verny of Semirechensk region reported to the Head of the Orenburg Provincial Gendarmerie Department through the service letter, the text of which was as follows « According to information supplied by agents, teacher of Khusainov madrasah – Kamaletdinov, who lives in Orenburg, for some purpose went to Constantinople, and recently returned. By May Kamaletdinov will have been living in Orenburg, then he is going to travel to Kazan and teach in Sabah schools» [10; l. 92].
Also article attracts special attention in the newspaper «Vakyt» about the sojourn of Turkish Minister, Professor Mahmoud Esida Efendi in Orenburg. This article was translated into Russian, and presented to representatives of the royal gendarmerie for analytical work. Based on archival documents, the development of national movements, their members had always been under the watchful eye of the gendarmerie and other military and colonial authorities. According tothe information supplied by agents, during this visit questions were raised about the banks, money, religious reform, women’s question and translation of the Quran.
Then Mahmud Effendi went to Nizhny Novgorod to participate in the VI Congress of the Muslims of Russia [11].
In the autumn of the same year, i.e. 1913, Mahmut Askhad camein Russia. According to information supplied by agents on that period he was registered as Sheik-ul-islam Mahmut Ashad, who headed the company «Tarakion –Islam», a protege of the Young Turks. The Central Committee of that society was situated in Istanbul. The duties of the founders of this company included enlistment of persons belonging to various charitable and educational societies of Muslims of the Russian Empire, and further transforming of these societies in branches and offices of «Tarakion – Islam».
Based on this, the main purpose of Ashad’sarrival in Russia was establishment of society units. Also in reports of the gendarmerie a certain Abdurashid Ibragimov was mentioned, who went to Turkey several times to discuss the same issue. Then it was decided to put him in charge of the newspaper «Tyuryuk Yurdy», which is the press organof «Tarakion –Islam» society,pursuing pan-Islamists goals. This newspaper was spread not only in Russia but also in other countries where Turkicpeoples lived. According to archival sources, this newspaper had its readers in Kazakhstan too. For example, in then existing city Vernya certain Mullah Yusuf Gabdulvaliev subscribedand received this edition, whichhe gave to read to others, «to whomhe treated with the special trust» [10; l. 92]. We know that many reading rooms of libraries on that period subscribed to the newspaper, but did not receive .
According to the gendarmerie, supporters of society «Tarakion–Islam» had planned edition of the newspaper « El» since 1914, under the leadership of Ishak Giazov in St. Petersburg. I. Giazov was a political collaborator of Mahmud Ashad, Ibragimov and Gasprinsky, and at the same time was one of the main leaders who distributed the following leaders in the regions: Gasprinsky Caucasus, Transcaucasia and the Crimea; Galimdzhan Hazrat Galiev Kazan with surrounding Muslim populated locality (lives in Kazan); Riza Kazy Fahretdinov Orenburg; who was in Turkestan is unknown [10].
It should be noted that the activation and strengthening of Turkic movements of the peoples who were in the orbit of the Russian statehood was greatly influenced by events in the Balkans of 1912-1913. Service representatives of the tsarist regime associatedinvolvement in the movement of new Turkish forces with the beginning of the war: «The Balkan war has not only alarmed the cultural Muslims of the world for the future fate of Islam, but also Kirghiz steppes and Turkestan» [11]. This is evidenced by preserved archival sources, where the imperial officials wrote that Kazakhs condemned Russia for helping the Slavs [10; l. 22]. As an addition there is an information in «Vakyt» newspapers issues № 1073 and 1074 and «Yulduz» issues № 906 of 1913 on the occasion of celebration of Kurban-ayt where it was reported the following: «The Orenburg Muslims didn’t celebrate the holiday in consequence of defeat of Turks», and «The Orenburg Muslims didn’t celebrate because of heavy time for Muslims» [10; l. 26].
Intenseagitation activity and Russia’s war in the Balkans affected the activation of the Turkic Muslims of Russia in the ethno-political sense, particularly in Turkish society pro-Turkish sentiments intensified. This can be seen even in the review published in Orenburg newspaper «Kazakh», where several publications of Bukeyhanovwere dedicated to the events inthe Balkans [7; 8].
Response to these circumstances was Circular of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which officials called the «Circular of the Muslims», and Muslims named it «anti-Muslim Circular» [11]. The paper emphasized that the support of the Balkan Slavs by Russian Empire displeased the «Russian Muslims». Circular paid special attention to «the Kirghiz, the Volga and Crimean Tatars» who had shown the biggestdispleasure, as (according to agents) some of them had stated that «in the event of a war with China, the Muslims decided to support financially and morally the Mongols». Circular recommended Turkestan and Steppe governorsgeneral to keep in mind the «Union of the Kirghiz, which began with the separatist purposes». In this regard, we cannot exclude the influence of Turkic ideas on events that took place in 1916 in Kazakhstan, the cause of which was the decree on the mobilization of the Kazakhs to rear works.
Overthrow of tsarism by Bolsheviksseta number of difficult tasks to representatives of the national intelligentsia. If until 1917 representatives of the national intelligentsia identified the process of struggle for statehood of Kazakhs to a great extent with the development of the national movement of Turkic peoples, who belonged at that time to the orbit of the colonial ideology of empire, the February events had made serious adjustments in the minds of the national intelligentsia in terms of further development of Kazakh statehood. In light of these events, the process of politicization of the creative intelligentsia was accelerated, and second, it provided an opportunity to declare the idea of unity of the Kazakh people under ideas of Alash. Actually for that case the foundation was already laid. It shows the foresight of leaders of the national intelligentsia, who took the etymology «Alash» as a name of the party. It was a sacred concept for Kazakhs, and contained a historical memory of freedom and the spirit of state hood.
It is no coincidence that in the initial stage of the Soviet period contacts of national leaders with Turkey were raised and presented as a clear hostile activity against the revolution. Then the command-and-control regime began cruelly cracking down with representatives of the national intelligentsia of the Turkic peoples, who were leaders and active participants of the national liberation movements. In their repressive affairs many of them were incriminated by relationship with the Turkish side [12]. In particular, they noted that the government of «Alash Orda» fought against the Soviet regime and established connections «with the existing Central Asia ... organizations» under the leadership of the Turkish General Enver Pasha, putting the task of overthrowing the Soviet regime and the establishment of unified «Muslim bourgeois state» [12; 64]. This kind of charges were brought against not only the representatives of the Kazakh intelligentsia, but also Azerbaijan, Tatar, Bashkir, Kirghiz, and others [13].
It is obvious that this publication raised not only the questions of historical plan, but also the present and the future of relations between Kazakhstan and Turkey, as well as other states of the Eurasian geopolitical space. To answer them, it is necessary to use consolidated efforts of many researchers of new generation, as they encompass the great events and not less great personalities who had difficult turns, which are not always clear for contemporaries and succeeding generations.
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