RESMÎ TARİH TEZİNE “TÜRK TARİH TEZİNE” FARKLI ÇIĞIRLAR, KURUMLAR VE BİR TARİH ALİMİ ZEKİ VELİDİ TOGAN

Turkish History Thesis, discussed during Mustafa Kemal Pasha’s leadership, was not the only paradigm dominating historiography. Academic historiology has continued to sustain its development concurrently with the official history thesis. The theses developed by the official history thesis on the basis of positivism and secularism, especially on the idea of nationalism, put aside the Ottoman past and attracted attention to Turkish people’s Central Asian origin. Under Köprülü’s leadership, academic historiography was carrying out well-established studies, directed at evaluating and examining Turks’ historical and cultural development as a whole, at Darülfünun Literature Madrasa and Turkic Studies Institute. Zeki Velidi, a historian from the Eastern Turks and conducting scholarly studies at converging and diverging points of two coexisting paradigms dominating the Turkish Historiography, will be discussed in its general terms in this study. In spite of his not passing remarks about the thesis once more apart from the History Congress I, Köprülü, the owner of an impartial but prudent objection to history and language theses intended to remove all the symbols reminiscent of Islamic Ottoman past while celebrating the pre-Islamic history of Turkish people, stated his objection with his works, ensuring the cultural integrity of Turkish history and put forward contrary to the official history thesis. While official history thesis was establishing an ideological dominance over history textbooks and teachers in secondary education through Ministry of National Education, The Turkish Historical Research Society did not have adequate control mechanisms in higher education and over research institutions. The society was not involved in the works of Turkic Studies Institute, which was under the control of Köprülü. Zeki Velidi (Togan), from Bashkir Turks, was born in Bashkortostan, today within the boundaries of Russia, on December 10th, 1890. Togan’s birthdate, the year 1890, heralds a groundbreaking generation in Turkish culture history. This generation has an important place in Turkish culture and scientific life. Togan’s interest areas develops in more different media, together with crossing his paths with this generation having an impact upon Western Turkishness. The exceptionality in Togan’s life is firstly due to the productivity of cultural milieu in which he was born. He grows up listening to genealogy, epic and historical narrations from his father. Zeki Velidi learns Arabic from his father, Persian from his mother and uncle, and Russian from tutors. He was moulded in a strong cultural milieu with ethnography, folk culture and oral culture. He meets Russian orientalists and N.F. Katanov in 1908, in Kazan. Bolshevik Revolution in Russia raised new hopes in the Turkish world and Togan adds political activities to his scholarly studies. Upon witnessing the loss of fighting chance in Turkestan, he first goes to Paris(1923) and from there to Berlin with the aim of proceeding in Europe. He goes on studying in the field of historiography after coming to Turkey (1925). He takes the side of Fuad Köprülü at the centre of discussions about Turcology, the Kemalist historiography, Turkic politics in Turkey and in the Russian Empire, the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The very first book with the title ‘Turkish Institute, Investigations’ is Barhold‘s work which was collected under the name of ‘the Central Asian Turkish Historical Lessons’. This work, with its subject and way of examining history, fills a gap in the way of providing continuity in Turkish history by explaining the history of the Turks until the fifteenth century before Islam. The studies, which are especially significant in the procurement of historical continuity, are to be published by Köprülü and his followers. Togan taught at İstanbul University and his work ‘General Introduction to Turkish History’, published as lecture notes in 1928, aroused great influence on the next generation. His criticisms, contrary to the official Turkish History Thesis, were met with strong backlash in the I. History Congress (July 25, 1932), which was held under the auspices of Atatürk. Zeki Velidi was forced to resign from his professorship in Darülfünun a week later. According to Zeki Velidi, congress was a touchstone between the historians regarding politics and the ones having intellectual and conscientious tenacity. Zeki Velidi lived abroad, in Europe for seven years (1932-1939). During this time, he conducted doctoral studies at the University of Vienna and received doctoral degree with İbn Fadlan topic. Upon İnönü’s presidency, he returned to Turkey and was appointed as a professor of Turkish History at İstanbul University (1939). During this period, he produced significant works. “Introduction to General Turkish History”, “Today’s Turkish Country (Turkestan) and its Late History”, “Procedural History” are important in terms of introducing Turkish historical sources. Zeki Velidi’s wording, like his speeches, are based on presenting extensive information but mostly submitting the events as free-standing stack of knowledge. Due to his East Turkish origin and illiteracy of science and politics conventions in Turkey, he experienced some difficulties. We can claim that the antipathy to him was on account of his positive attitude towards the Mongols and Timur's historical role, which was contrary to historian society’s negative viewpoint. However, the contributions of the Mongol and Timurid to world civilization are among the topics receiving acceptance in today’s Western historiography. Called external Turks in Turkey, an enlightened community of Tatar, Azerbaijani origin, historians, men of letters, linguists gathered around Zeki Velidi. This community of scholars probably completed their education in St. Petersburg and Berlin and had all kinds of connections with major Turcologists of 1920s and 1930s before settling in İstanbul. They played a positive role in the establishment and development of Turcology. Zeki Velidi Togan is a history scholar having a breakthrough especially in the field of General Turkish History. His profound knowledge about the historical geography in which Turks once lived, his scholarly equipment and understanding of history and methodology obtained through scientific studies in European countries either before or after arriving in Turkey conduced to the training of his own followers in a different front of Fuad Köprülü’s school by combining the traditional education, which he had received since childhood, with his own personality. The project of preparing Turkish World Handbook, one of Togan’s scientific concerns, is one of his great achievements. The most important source of work produced in this field in Turkey was ‘Turkish World Handbook’ when the USSR entered in the process of dissolution. This work generated by the followers of Togan’s groundbreaking community had the characteristic of being the most important work which made sense of a statesman’s saying “You can go from Turkey to China speaking Turkish” when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics entered in the process of dissolution.