16 Great Turkic Empires

The 16 Great Turkic Empires (Turkish: 16 Büyük Türk Devleti, lit. 'Sixteen 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.^[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 (according to the Turkish Presidency):^[4]

Flag (attributed by Özbek)[5]	Name	Turkish name	Founder[6]	Dates (Gregorian)[4]
	"Great Hunnic Empire"	Büyük Hun İmparatorluğu[5]	Modu Chanyu	220 BCE–216 CE
	"Western Hunnic Empire"	Batı Hun İmparatorluğu[4]	Panu	48–216
	"Europe Hunnic Empire"	Avrupa Hun İmparatorluğu[4]	Attila	375–469
	"White Hunnic Empire"	Ak Hun İmparatorluğu[4]	Aksunvar	420–552
	"Göktürk Empire"	Göktürk İmparatorluğu[4]	Bumin Qaghan	552–745
	"Avar Empire"	Avar İmparatorluğu[4]	Bayan Qaghan	565–835
	"Khazar Empire"	Hazar İmparatorluğu[4]	Tong Yabghu Qaghan	651–983
	"Uyghur State"	Uygur Devleti[4]	Kutlug I Bilge Kagan	745–1368
	Karakhanids	Karahanlılar[4]	Bilge Kul Qadir Khan	840–1212
	"Ghaznavids"	Gazneliler[4]	Sabuktigin	962–1183
	"Great Seljuq Empire"	Büyük Selçuklu İmparatorluğu[4]	Chagri Bey	1040–1157
	"Khwarezmshahs"	Harzemşahlar[4]	Muhammad II of Khwarezm	1097–1231
	"Golden Horde State"	Altınordu Devleti[4]	Batu Khan	1236–1502
	"Great Timurid Empire"	Büyük Timur İmparatorluğu[4]	Timur	1368–1501
	"Baburid Empire"	Babür İmparatorluğu[4]	Babur	1526–1858
	"Ottoman Empire"	Osmanlı İmparatorluğu[4]	Osman I	1299–1922

Reception

16 stars in the Presidential Seal of Turkey represents each empire.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

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 Hephthalite 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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 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 (lit. "sons of the shower cabin", more idiomatically "Showercabinids"). Dedicated to the principalities ending with the suffix -oğlu (English suffix -ids) in the Anatolian principalities ^[12]

See also

• Pan-Turkism
• Turanism
• Neo-Ottomanism

References

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

1. "Abbas welcomed at Turkish presidential palace by Erdoğan – and 16 warriors". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 2015-01-12. 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. "Fors" (in Turkish). T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı.
5. 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.
6. Keçiören 39°58′41″N 32°52′3″E. Etimesgut Belediyesi kent meydanı için hazırlanan 16 Türk Büyüğü heykelleri. Niğde’nin simgesi Türk Büyükleri heykelleri kaldırılıyor mu? Türk devlet büyükleri Mamak'ta Archived 2016-08-05 at the Wayback Machine Türk Büyükleri Anıtları Yenilendi (Nevşehir). "Pınarbaşı Turkishness Monument" (Pınarbaşı Türklük Anıtı, opened in 2000).
7. "Fors". Presidency of Türkiye.
8. On line history newspaper ((in Turkish)) Archived 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
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. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2016. "Duşakabinoğulları 3 ay sürmüş!" (in Turkish). Sözcü. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2016. "Duşakabinoğullarını Dolmabahçe Sarayı'na getirdi" (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.