The idea of ‘United Turkestan’ in the Turkic speaking states media: influence on the Western media

ABSTRACT

In the early twentieth century, amid the transformation of political systems, the idea of independence and autonomy of Turkic-speaking states gained new impetus due to the active work of Kazakh intelligentsia; in the twentieth century, a similar situation emerged – with new challenges and threats. The study aims to analyse the specifics of the formation and development of the idea of ‘united Turkestan’ in the media of Turkic-speaking countries and several European states through the consideration of the problem of protecting the interests of national minorities during the Soviet rule in the Central Asian region. The main methods were the historical method, which was used to examine the peculiarities of the activity of national liberation movements in Kazakhstan in the early twentieth century, and the method of system analysis, which was used to study the factors influencing the creation of the information image of ‘united Turkestan’ in the press. It was found that the role and influence of mass media, mainly printed publications published in some European countries and talking about the real situation in Turkestan, were decisive for the subsequent development of the concept of the community of Turkic-speaking peoples.

KEYWORDS:

• National liberation movements
• political elites
• intellectuals
• independence
• Turkism
• print media

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).