TÜRKÇÜLÜK AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21 ST CENTURY: IMPLEMENTATION AND EVOLUTION (A VIEW FROM YEREVAN)

Abstract

The article investigates the issues of perception in the Russian Federation, Turkic
countries of the post-Soviet region, and Armenia regarding the potential realization of
the fundamental objectives of türkçülük, a century after its formulation by its prominent
apologist, Ziya Gökalp (1876-1923). The notion of Turkic unity is actively ongoing in the
media, academic, and political spheres. The endorsement of pan-Turkic principles and
the encouragement of extensive Turkic cooperation in diverse areas are viewed as an
‘’adaptive mechanism’’ by the political and cultural elites of Turkic-speaking countries in
Central Asia to counterbalance neighbouring superpowers such as Russia and China.
Despite Gökalp's absolute confidence that Soviet Russia was the main obstacle to
türkçülük, thirty years after the USSR's collapse, the political, economic, and
cultural elites of post-Soviet Turkic-speaking countries pragmatically recognize the
possibilities for real unity and differentiation. The imperative concept for Armenian
historiography was that Russia was capable and would have no alternative to resist pan-
Turkism: the solution to the existential security issues of Armenia was deduced from the
above-mentioned statement. Today, voices in Russian Turkology call for a more
‘’flexible’’ understanding of the term 'Turkism', as well as of the history of the
Ottoman Empire and Russian-Turkish relations. A new perspective emerges not only on
centuries-old confrontation but also on periods of positive interaction, emphasizing the
importance of constructing a "new modus" for Russia's policy and
mutually beneficial cooperation with the Turkic-Muslim world. In the context of
implementing a vision of multilateral cooperation within the framework of the Greater
Eurasian Partnership, Armenia's participation in the "3+3" format
appears crucial, serving as an optimal platform for orientalists and political scientists to
coordinate contentious issues of multilateral cooperation, and optimistically contributing
to the process of normalizing Armenia’s relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.