Turkism in Eurasia: Identity, Ideology and Politics

(Hardback)

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Turkism as an idea which emphasizes the Turkic ethnic component in national identity is widely associated with Turks and Turkey. However, many millions of Turkic peoples with distinctive histories, cultures, social and political traditions live outside Turkey. This book discusses the origins and ethno-cultural and political evolution of Tatars, Bashkirs, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, Kazakhs and other Turkic peoples of post-Soviet Turkic Eurasia, examining the views of their national leaders and their attitudes towards Anatolian Turks and Turkey. It addresses the geopolitical implications of the increased role of Turkic and Muslim states in the international system; and argues that from the 2000s Turkism became integrated into the national discourses of the new Turkic states and polities, while at the international level it facilitated, rather than shaped, Turkeys cooperation with these states, as well as inter-state relations within the Turkic world. Based on both primary and secondary sources in Russian, Turkish, English and French, the book uses semi-structured interviews with relevant policy-makers, academics and proponents of Turkism; ethnographic observation; archival documents; and contemporary political analysis from Turkic Eurasia and Turkey to provide the first history-based integrated study of the cultural, ideological and political role of Turkism in Eurasia.

Reviews

In this well-researched and up-to-date study Galina M. Yemelianova traces the role of Turkism in the ethno-national and political development of the various Turkic peoples of the former imperial Russian/Soviet space. She convincingly argues in favour of a plurality of Turkisms and their distinctive impact on the national discourses of the new Turkic states and polities. This authoritative book will be a valuable addition to many university courses on ethno-nationalism and Eurasian history and politics and of interest to a wider general readership. * Dr Bayram Balci, CERI/Sciences Po, Paris *
Historically Turkism has been an important component in the national development of the various Turkic peoples inhabiting the vast Eurasian expanses corresponding to the post-Soviet Turkic lands. Galina M. Yemelianovas ground-breaking study, which is based on over three decades of her empirical research of the region, offers fascinating insights into this complex subject. * Professor Svetlana I. Akkieva, Institute of Humanities, Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria *

Author Bio

Galina M.Yemelianova is Research Associate at the Centre of Contemporary Central Asia & the Caucasus, SOAS, University of London, UK. Her books include Muslims of Central Asia (2019), Radical Islam in the former Soviet Union (2010) and Islam in post-Soviet Russia (2003).