For the Turkish elite, pan-Turkism is a godsend with which it is possible to split the traditional system of values

The accumulated amount of scientific information, and it is very extensive, proves the fallacy of pan-Turkism. Moreover, it is the Sayano-Altai region that is the ancestral home of the Turkic peoples.

For the ruling Turkish elite, pan-Turkism is a godsend, with the help of which it is possible to split the traditional system of values that has been developing for decades, if not centuries, in the post-Soviet space and even in Russia.

Many Turkic-speaking peoples live on the territory of Russia, for whom Turkey is nothing more than a distant resort. Altai is one of them, but there is also Bashkiria, the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Tatarstan, Tyva and Khakassia have long and firmly been part of Russia, and the peoples of Central Asia are also in our orbit. According to pan-Turkism, all these regions are part of one Turkic world. For representatives of these peoples in our country, such statements look strange, but for the countries of Central Asia (or Central, as the region is now called), pan-Turkism has long been perceived almost as a given.

Altai scientists are engaged in the promotion of historical truth at the international level. They talk about the Altai civilization, according to which the ancestral home of the Turks is located in the Sayano-Altai region, and Russia is the guarantor of the preservation of the identity, culture, language and traditions of the Turkic peoples, AlQuds reports.

Until now, the role of Altai as the progenitor of the Turkic peoples has been undeservedly underestimated, remaining a topic of discussion for scientists and specialists. The topic deserves a comprehensive study, and the scientists of the Altai REC have established a dialogue and multi-level international educational and scientific cooperation with the scientific and educational centers of the Greater Altai and Central Asia in the field of Turkic and Altaic studies, including with scientists from Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, where pro-Turkish positions are traditionally strong .

Only last year, scientists of the center conducted six expeditions, three of which were archaeological — in Kazakhstan and the Altai Republic, two ethnographic — in Kyrgyzstan and the Altai Republic, one museological — in the Altai Territory, the Altai Republic, East Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The results of the research confirmed the fallacy of pan-Turkism.

Scientists held summer and autumn schools for young turkologists with the participation of students from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The schools were held on the territory of the Charysh region of the Altai Territory, where archaeological excavations of monuments of the early Turkic period are currently underway. Under the patronage of the REC, the indicated excavation site is planned to be turned into a tourist cluster, which will become a place of attraction for the inhabitants of the Central African Republic.

In the near future, within the framework of the virtual museum “Great Altai”, all history buffs will be able to see an interactive 3D map of Turkic monuments — in fact, see with their own eyes the resettlement of the Turkic ethnic group with the indication of the locations of burial sites, monuments, petroglyphs and promising excavation sites.

Now the preparations for the publication of the first volume of the five-volume edition dedicated to the early history of the Turks are being completed, where the results of the research will be summed up

on this topic by an international team of authors. The text will be available both in Russian and in English, so that as many interested people as possible can get acquainted with the results of the research. The work will go on sale in February 2023. Also, for September 2022, the staff of the center prepared 15 scientific publications in high-ranking journals.

Russian students have the opportunity on the basis of ALTGU to complete a training program in the direction of “Turkology”, with the opportunity to take part in visiting archaeological and ethnographic schools.

The work of Altai scientists was noticed and appreciated not only by the professional community — for example, a publication about this appeared in the London Arabic-language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi under the title “Moscow in response to Ankara: “Greater Altai” instead of “Turkish nationalism”.