Ergenekon (Persian: ارگنه قون; Ergene Qon) is the name of the place where Nekuz and Qiyan and their wives escaped to, and who were the original Mongols in Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh written by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani at the beginning of the 14th century.[1][2][3] In the 17th century, Abulghazi Bahadur, who was a descendant of Shiban and the khan of the Khanate of Khiva from 1643–63, mentioned Ergenekon as the Mongolian creation myth in his work named Shajara-i turk (Genealogy of the Turk).[2][3]
Some Turkish researchers claim its Turkic origins with similarities between the creation myths of Göktürks (Bozkurt Destanı: Chinese texts and Turkish translations) and the Ergenkon epic.[3] The first individual to compare Abulghazi Bahadur's Ergenekon epic with the creation myth of the Göktürks was Joseph de Guignes,[4] however, the respective creation myths of the Göktürks and Mongols are completely different from one another.[5]
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In the late Ottoman era, Ergenkon epic was used in Turkish literature, especially by the Turkish nationalist movement for describing a mythical place located in the inaccessible valleys of the Altay Mountains.
In 1864 Ahmed Vefik Pasha translated Shajara-i turk into the Ottoman language under the title Şecere-i Evşâl-i Türkiyye[6] and it was published in Tasvir-i Efkâr newspaper.[7] Ziya Gökalp wrote the poem concerned with Ergenekon epic in the context of Turkic history (Turkish text of Ergenekon poem of Ziya Gökalp). It was published under the title of "Türk An'anesi: Ergenekon" in Türk Duygusu magazine (May 8, 1913 - June, 5 1913) dated May 8, 1913,[8] Altın Armağan [9] in September 1913[10] and under the title of "Ergenekon" in Kızılelma in 1914.[11] Ömer Seyfettin also wrote a poem concerning the Ergenekon epic. It was published in Halka Doğru magazine dated April 9, 1914.[7][12] Rıza Nur translated Shajara-i turk into modern Turkish in 1925[13] and mentioned Ergenekon in Oğuznâme published in Alexandria in 1928.[14]
In early republican era of Turkey, especially in 1930s, when ethnic nationalism held its sway in Turkey, Bozkurt, Asena and Ergenekon were selected deliberately[15] and under the influence of the theory of Turkish ethnocentrism named Turkish History Thesis, Ergenekon was described as the creation myth of Göktürks in the textbooks of history.[16][17]
In 1933, Şevket Süreyya Aydemir, a Turkish intellectual and one of the founders and a key theorist of Kadro movement, used Ergenekon epic to consubstantiate with the Turkish revolution.[18]
Moreover, in the new Turkish version of Egenekon Legend (Turkish: Ergenekon Destanı), the motif of Gray Wolf (Turkish: Bozkurt) was added[19] (Turkish text, the version of Ministry of National Education of Turkey).
According to Prof. Dr. Ahmed Yüksel Özemre, a Turkish scientist and former chairman of Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, Râşid Erer (d. 1952), once-Ottoman minister of Education, criticized this falsity and argues that Ergenekon Legend might be written by a Jew. He was also angered by the notions that Huns and Mongols are Turkic peoples, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.[20]
According to Prof. Dr. Mümtaz’er Türköne, a Turkish political scientist[21] and a columnist, Ergenekon is not a myth that is genuinely long-standing and rooted in the collective memory, but an elaborate hoax. He argues that the Ergenekon was created as a Turkish national myth by Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, a prominent man of letters and friend to Atatürk during the Turkish War of Independence.[22] and that no trace of the story of the Ergenekon Legend has been found in the Ottoman and Seljuk periods.[23] He insisted that the Ministry of National Education should immediately mop up the falsity in these textbooks.[24]
According to Ergun Candan, there are some similarities between the mythologies of other cultures in their symbolism. The she-wolf Asena showed the Turks the way through the labyrinth of valleys and mountain passes. According to Ergun Candan, the she-wolf may be seen as a symbol of the "dog star" Sirius.[25]