FOUR TURKIC NATIONS IN IRAN, THEIR HOMELANDS,
SELF-DESIGNATIONS/ENDOETHNONYMS AND NATIONAL FLAGS
İRAN’DA BULUNAN DÖRT TÜRKİK
MİLLET, ANA VATANLARI, ÖZ TANIMLAMALARI/KENDİNİ ADLANDIRMALARI VE MİLLİ BAYRAKLARI
MÉHRAN BAHARLI
«سؤزوموز،
مئهران باهارلینین یازقالاری توپلوسو» پیتییی، بیرینجی جیلددهن
“Sözümüz,
Méhran Baharlının yazqalar toplusu” pitiyinden, cild I
از کتاب « سؤزوموز،
مجموعه مقالات مئهران باهارلی» - جلد اول
mehranbahari1@yahoo.com
https://independent.academia.edu/MBaharli
https://sozumuz1.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579230999069
Nations, National Minorities, and National Regions: Within
the borders of present-day Iran, there are four Turkic National Groups:
"TURK" (Western Oghuz), "TURKMEN" (Eastern Oghuz),
"HALAJ", and "KAZAKH".
The classification of these Turkic national groups is based on
principles such as their own self-designation (Endoethnonym, Autoethnonym,
Self-Identification, Self-Nomination), the language they speak today, history,
etc., and not on the basis of racial purity. Each of these national groups is
composed, to varying degrees, of a mixture of various Turkic and Mongolic groups,
as well as, like most nations, certain indigenous and immigrant groups.
Out of these four Turkic national
groups, the "Turkish" national group has at least three homelands or National
Regions: "Turkili" in northwestern Iran, "Afsharili" in the
northeast, and "Qashqaiili" in the south. The "Khalaj" and
"Turkmen" national groups each have only one National Region,
respectively "Khalajorda" in northwestern Iran towards its center,
and "Turkmenistan" in the northeast. Because these three Turkic
national groups have national territories within Iran, they have the status of
"NATION" similar to the Persian, Arab, Lor, Baloch, Kurdish, Lar,
etc. nations. On the other hand, the "Kazakh" national group, lives
in and around the city of Gümbet, located within the Turkmen National Region
(Turkmenyurt). Since the Kazakh national group in Iran does not have its own
national homeland within the country, it has the status of a NATIONAL MINORITY similar
to the Armenian, Jewish, Assyrian, Roma, etc. national minorities, not a
nation.
The Issue with
"istan": The suffix "istan" (and the Arabic "iyya"),
which means province, state, or country has its roots in Iranic languages,
should not be included in the names of Turkic national regions. Instead, Turkish
terms like "İl/İli", "Yurt/Yurtu", "Yer/Yeri", and
"Ordu/Orda" (similar to "Oron", "Uls”, and “Qazar"
in Mongolian; "Ország" in Hungarian; and the Sumerian prefixes
"Ki" and "Kelem" that are linked to Proto-Altaic languages)
can be used for this purpose: Kazakili (Kazakhstan), Türkmenili (Turkmenistan),
Özbekili (Uzbekistan), Tatarili (Tatarstan), Kırgızili (Kyrgyzstan), Başkurtili
(Bashkortostan), etc.
Türkiye and the Republic of Azerbaijan are among the
countries with the most inaccurate information about the Turkic peoples living
in Iran. The knowledge about Iranian Turkics in these countries is largely
based on false assumptions, prejudices, misconceptions, wishful thinking, and
the products of colonial nation-building projects of Western and Crusader
imperial states, as well as Pan-Iranism.
In an effort to address the aforementioned inaccuracies and deficiencies, this
article presents the Self-designation (Endoethnonym, Autoethnonym, Self-identification, Self-nomination) of the four Turkic nations residing in Iran, along with
the names of their homelands and their national flags.
The flags included are those with
historical background and significance, proposed flags, commonly used flags, and those that have
gained wider international acceptance.
THE
TURKISH NATION:
In Iran, the Western Oghuz Turks
have historically referred to themselves as "Turk" and continue to identify
themselves solely as Turk. Therefore, the
name for the Turkish people living in Iran in foreign languages, in accordance
with their self-designation, should absolutely be "Turk". When the
last Turkish state in Iran, the Qajar (Kajar) state, was overthrown in 1925,
the vast majority of the country's population was Turkish. According to some
sources, even today, the Turkish people constitute a relative majority of the
Iranian population, at least 40-45%.
The Turkish people living in Iran refer to their language
as "Türkü" or "Türküce" (sometimes, in certain dialects
influenced by Persian as "Türké" or "Türki"). In Iran,
"Turki" or "Turkish" is the general term used for all the
eastern dialects of Western Oghuz spoken in that country. Therefore, following
the self-designation of the Turkish people, the name of this language in
foreign languages should also be "Turkish".
There are two main dialect groups
of Turkish in Iran: the "Turkman Dialect Group" and the
"Khorasan Dialect Group." (Turkman and Turkmen are different
concepts; see further in the article). The Khorasan Group dialects are mainly
spoken in the Afsharyurt national region in Khorasan. This dialect is also
spoken in Ebiverd city in southern Iran. The correct name for this dialect
group in English is the "Khorasan dialects of Turkish" or
"Khorasan Turkish," not "Khorasan Turkic."
The Turkman dialects, which constitute the majority, are
spoken in the Azerbaijan region and are also prevalent throughout the country. They
are spoken by all Turks in the country except for the Khorasan Turks. The Turkman
dialect group includes the dialects of the Qashqai tribal confederation in
southern Iran, as well as all Turkish dialects in Central and Southern Iran. These
dialects are not an independent southern branch of Oghuz Turkish, but rather a
subgroup of the Turkman dialect group. The dialects spoken in eastern and
southern Turkey, Iraq, other areas in the Middle East and Southern Caucasus,
also belong to the Turkman dialect group. The Turkish "Songur
dialect," spoken in and around the city of Songur and its surrounding
areas in the Kermanshah province in the southeast region of Turkili, is a
distinct and unique subgroup of the Turkman dialects.
The Turkman dialect of Turkish: In the past, the Turkish dialects spoken in Turkili and other parts of
Iran were collectively referred to as "Turkman (Turcoman)", sometimes
Türkmânî. This distinction helped to avoid confusion between this eastern dialect group of Western Oghuz and the Balkan dialects, as well
as its easternmost dialect, the Istanbul dialect, which belong to the western dialect group of Western
Oghuz. When compared to
the official language of Turkey, Modern Turkish, it is most appropriate and
scientifically sound to collectively refer to the Eastern group of dialects of
Western Oghuz Turkish in Iran (excluding the Khorasan dialects) as
"Turkman" dialects, or in English, “Turkman Turkish”.
Using "Turk" solely as an
ethnic name for the Turks of Turkey, and "Turkish" exclusively for the
Turkish language of Turkey, while referring to the "Turkish" people residing
in Iran as "Azerbaijani," "Azerbaijani Turk,"
"Azeri," or "Azeri Turk," and identifying the Turkish
language and its Turkman dialects spoken by these people as "Azerbaijani,"
"Azerbaijani language," "Azerbaijani Turkish," "Azeri
Turkish," "Azeri," etc., is incorrect. These terms may be
applicable to the Turkish people in the South Caucasus, who have undergone a
different nation-building process. However, using these designations for the
Turkish people in Iran does not align with linguistic classification, regional
realities, or the people's self-identification. Moreover, given Iran’s state
policy of denying and suppressing the existence of the Turkish people and their
language, employing these labels is not only politically incorrect, but also a
violation of human rights.
The "Turkish nation,"
which ruled Iran for 1200 years, spread throughout the entire country during
this period. As a result, there are now numerous scattered Turkish communities,
villages, and cities all over Iran. Additionally, there are several national regions in Iran where
Turks reside densely and make up the absolute majority of the population in each area. The three most important Turkish
national regions are as follows:
1- TURKILI (Persian: TORKÉSTANترکستان , TURKÜSTANتورکوستان , Arabic:
TORKİYYEترکیّه ):
Turkili (Türkeli) is a large geographical region and national
homeland in the northwestern part of Iran, extending towards the west and
central areas. It includes all settlements where the majority of the population
is Turkish. Turkili stretches from the borders of the Republic of Turkey and
the Republic of Azerbaijan into the interior of Iran, encompassing half of the
city of Tehran. The name Turkili is the Turkish equivalent of the Persian word
Turkestan. "Turkestan" has been used by many old and contemporary foreign and local sources, as well
as by the Turkish people themselves to designate either the entirety of Turkili or some of its parts.
In Iran, administrative divisions
are not based on linguistic or ethnic boundaries. Instead each ethnic and
linguistic national region has been divided among several provinces to promote
the assimilation of the population into Persian culture. Many provinces have
been artificially created to bring together different ethnic and national
groups. As a result of this policy, Turkili (Turk homeland) is divided among
fourteen provinces or "Ostan" in the current administrative division
of Iran: West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Gilan, Zanjan, Qazvin,
Hamadan, Markazi, Alborz, Qom, Tehran, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and Lorestan.
Turkili only includes the Turkish inhabited parts of these
provinces, excluding areas not populated by Turks. Approximately
80% of the Turkish population in Iran lives in Turkili.
Turkili and Azerbaijan are not synonymous in meaning or
territory. Turkili is a Turkish national region and the homeland of the Turkish
people. In constrast, Azerbaijan is a historical and geographical phenomenon,
and the name of two contemporary administrative divisions (provinces), only
encompassing the northern half of the Turkili territories. The southern half of
the Turkish homeland, Turkili, consists of territories inhabited by Turks which
in ancient times were or currently are known
as Iraq-i Ajam, Hamse, Jibal, Deylem, Alishukur Bey, Bayatistan, Karagan, etc. In
the Caucasus, Azerbaijan is the name of the homeland. However, this is not the
case in Iran. Here, the Turkish homeland is Turkili, and only half of it is
located in historical, geographical, and administrative Azerbaijan. The other
half of the Turkish homeland, Turkili, is located outside of historical, geographical,
and administrative Azerbaijan. To consider
Azerbaijan as the Turkish homeland in Iran instead of Turkili is an absurd
view, akin to defining the Turkish homeland in Turkey solely as Rumelia, in the
Republic of Azerbaijan solely as Nakhchivan. In short, there is a Turkish
nation dispersed throughout Iran. This Turkish nation also resides in the
northwest of Iran, spanning fourteen provinces or regions. Azerbaijan only includes
three provinces, not encompassing all of the Turkish territories and homeland,
nor the entire Turkish nation.
There is no place called South
Azerbaijan in Iran. The concept of South Azerbaijan was created in the Stalinist
Soviet Union and imposed on the Turkish people in Iran. The Soviet Union's
purpose in creating the concept of South Azerbaijan was to divide the Turkish
people living in Iran, to remove the part of them in the region bordering
Soviet Azerbaijan from Turkey's sphere of influence and bring it into Russia's
sphere of influence. The goal was also to reduce the size of the Turkish
homeland or Turkili in northwestern Iran, limiting it to the geography of
Azerbaijan. Ultimately, this was intended to weaken the Turkish people in the
region against the Persian, Armenian, and Kurdish populations both demographically
and politically.
Referring to the Turkish people
living in the Azerbaijan region of Turkili by ethnic names other than their self-designation,
which is Turk, such as Azeri, or Azerbaijani is a racist and imperialist
project. The ethnic and national name for the Western Oghuz Turks living in the
Azerbaijan region of Turkili, as well as for those living in other regions of Turkili
and Iran, is simply Turk. It is not Azeri, Azerbaijani, Azeri Turk, or
Azerbaijani Turk. The purpose of those who created
the concepts of "Azeri" and "Azerbaijani" is to deny the
Turkish national existence in Iran, prevent all Western Oghuz Turks in that
country from forming a single national group, and ultimately facilitate the
ethnic cleansing and annihilation of the Turkish people. Those in the Republic
of Azerbaijan and Turkey who refer to the Turkish people living in Iran as "Azerbaijani"
and "Azeri" only serve to hinder the formation of the Turkish nation living
in Iran and contribute to their ethnic cleansing.
TURKILI NATIONAL FLAG:
The Turkili National Flag was designed in the final years
of World War I. This flag belonged to the short-lived “Unity Government" or "Türk Bilik Devleti"
(June 8, 1918 – December 1, 1918) established in Turkili under the leadership
of the national leader and esteemed commander Urmulu Cemşid Khan Subataylı
Afşar Mecd üs-Seltene. The flag was used in various regions of Turkili such as Urmia,
Salmas, Khoy, Tabriz, Savujbulak, Hamadan, and Ardabil, as the official flag of
the "Turkish Unity State".
The background of the Turkili National Flag is red, similar
to the Ottoman flag. On the flag, a
crescent moon and a five-pointed star are placed side by side, accompanied by a
lion carrying a sun on its back and a sword in its hand. The crescent moon and
five-pointed star have been used as symbols of Turkish identity by various
Turkic states, from the Göktürk state in the east to the Kölemen (Mamluk) state
in the west. The five-pointed star on the flag symbolizes humanity. The lion
with the sun on its back and a sword in its hand is a commonly used symbol in
Turkish and Mongol states in the region.
2- AFSHARILI (AFSHARYURT):
Afsharyurt, also known as Afsharili, is an ethnic region
in northeastern Iran inhabited by Western Oghuz Turks. It is located in the
northern part of the Khorasan region and shares borders with Turkmenistan, the
"Turkmenyurt" national region in Iran, and northern Afghanistan
(Southern Turkestan). In Afsharili, the majority of Turks speak in the Khorasan
dialects of Turkish, while a smaller portion, similar to Turkili, speak in the Turkman dialects of
Turkish. Approximately 8% of the Turkish population in Iran lives in Afsharili.
AFSHARILI NATIONAL FLAG:
The background of the Afşarili national flag is
turquoise, symbolizing Turkish identity.
In the center of the flag are the eight-pointed star and the
double-headed eagle of the Seljuks, originating from Khorasan. To the right and
left of the eight-pointed star are two crescent moons and five-pointed stars, respectively representing the Western and
Eastern Oghuz Turks, as well as the western and eastern parts of the Turkic
world. The eight-pointed star placed between them emphasizes that Afşarili
serves as a bridge between the East and West of the Oghuzs, as well as the east
and west of the Turkic world.
3-KASHKAYILI (QASHQAYILI, QASHQAYURTU):
Qaşqayili or Qashqayurt is an ethnic region inhabited by
the Turkish Qashqai tribal confederation. It is located in southern Iran, near
the Basra Gulf and the Hormoz Strait. The
Turkish dialects spoken in Qashqayili form a distinct subgroup of the Turkman
dialects. Approximately 12% of the Turkish population resides in southern Iran.
NATIONAL FLAG OF KASHKAYILI:
The design of the Qashqayili
national flag, along with the colors and motifs used in it, symbolize the
world-famous rugs and “gebes” of the Qashqai Turks. The dark golden yellow in
the center of the flag represents worldly wealth in Turkic mythology, Shamanism, Tengrism, Animism, and ancient Turkic culture. The
crescent and star symbolize the Western Oghuz and the Turkic
identity, while the
eight-pointed star represents victory and triumph. The symbols lined up in the margin of the central yellow section are the tamga (seal) of the Akkoyunlu - Bayındır
Turkmans, with whom the Qashqay Turks are associated. The tamga resembles the letter B in the Old Turkic Orkhon alphabet, which is also the initial
letter of the Bayındır name.
TURKMEN NATION:
In Iran, the Eastern Oghuz Turks refer to themselves as "Turkmen"
(تورکمهن) and their
language as "Turkmençe" (تورکمهنچه). "Turkmen" (تورکمهن) and
"Turkman" (تورکمان)
are two separate historical concepts representing two distinct ethnic entities.
Turkmen is the national self-designation of the Eastern Oghuz who reside in
Central Asia, east of the Khazar (Caspian) Sea. This group is
commonly referred to as Turkmen in scientific publications. On the other hand, Turkman is an ethnic subgroup of the Turkish nation or Western
Oghuz Turks, who live in
the Middle East, Anatolia, and the Caucasus, west of the Khazar (Caspian) Sea.
This group is referred to as
Turcoman in scientific publications. The main reason for labeling them as
Turcoman was to differentiate them from the East Oghuz Turkmen. Turkmen are a more
homogeneous Eastern Oghuz group, while the Turcomans are a mixture of Oghuz
Turks along with Eastern Turkic peoples (Karluk and later Chagatai and
Uyghurs), Tatars, and Mongols. This mixture is also evident in the numerous Mongol,
Chagatai, Eastern Turkic, Tatar, and Kipchak elements present in the Turcoman
dialects).
5-TURKMENYURT (in Persian: ترکمن صحرا):
Turkmenyurt is the name of the ethnic region in Iran
where the Turkmen nation live, and its Persian name is "Torkmen
Sehra" (ترکمن صحرا). Turkmenyurt is
located on the southeastern coast of the
Caspian Sea and to the south of the Republic of Turkmenistan.
TÜRKMENYURT NATIONAL FLAG:
The design of the Turkmenyurt national flag closely resembles
that of the Republic of Turkmenistan, with some notable
differences. Instead of the green color, it features a turquoise sky color, symbolizing
Turkic identity. The flag has two vertical red stripes in place of a vertical
carpet strip seen on the Turkmenistan flag. Moreover, rather than the five
stars and crescent moon on the hoist side, the Turkmenyurt flag showcases a
single five-pointed star and crescent moon at the center, representing the
Turkic symbol. These two stripes are a vertical adaptation of the horizontal
stripes found on the flags of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Iraqi
Turkmaneli, symbolyzing the Turkmens in the Republic of Turkmenistan and
Afghanistan.
KHALAJ - XELEC NATION:
The Khalaj nation in Iran is considered to be a remnant
of the ancient Turkic Argus. They refer to their language as "Xelec
Tili" (Khalaj Language). The Khalaj people, remnants of the ancient Argus,
are distinct from the Khalaj tribe, which was once a branch of the Oghuz but has
now merged and assimilated into the Turkish people.
4-XELECORDA (KHALAJORDA): Khalajorda, known as
"Khalajestan" (خلجستان) in Persian, is the ethnic region where the Khalaj people
reside. It is situated in the southeast of Turkili, bordering Central Iran and
Farsistan.
XELECORDA NATIONAL FLAG:
The national flag of Khalajorda consists of three
vertical stripes: sky blue on the left, red in the center, and green on the
right. These colors are also found in the flags of South Turkestan in northern
Afghanistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The symbols on the flag represent
elements related to the formation and history of the Khalaj people. These symbols
include: the vertically arranged three-starred flag of the Akhuns
(Hephthalites) on the right, the tree-shaped flag of the Karakhanids and
Karluks with nine arrows and tufted banners on the left, and the crescent moon
and star used by the ancient Turks and Western Oghuz in the center.
KAZAKH – QAZAQ NATIONAL MINORITY:
The Kazakhs are a small Turkic community of Kipchak
origin in Iran, residing in Turkmenyurt (Turkmen Sahra). They do not have their
own compact national region or homeland in Iran, so they are considered a
national minority in Iran, rather than a nation. The Kazakh language is self-designated
as "Qazaqsha" (قازاقشا).
FLAG OF THE KAZAKH MINORITY:
The national flag of the Kazakh
minority living in Iran has a turquoise sky-blue background. In the center of the flag are an eagle and a
Kazakh yurt. The three stars on the left side symbolize the three Kazakh Jüz
(or Hordes), the Ulı (Great), Orta (Middle), and Kışı (Little) that formed the
Kazakh Khanate and their homeland, Kazakili (Kazakhstan). These symbols have also
been used in other Kazakh flags. At the
top of the yurt is a Şañıraq (Şankırak, Shanyrak), a traditional roof
structure. The door of the yurt and the vertical stripe on the left of the flag
feature commonly used Kazakh motifs.
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