16 Great Turkic Empires
The 16 Great Turkic Empires (Turkish: 16 Büyük Türk Devleti, lit. 'Sixteen Great Turkic States') is a concept in Turkish nationalism introduced in 1969 by map officer Akib Özbek and widely invoked by Turkish authorities during the 1980s, under the government of Kenan Evren. == The list == The "16 Great Turkic Empires" are the following (according to the Turkish Presidency): == Reception == Turkish nationalist writer, novelist, poet and philosopher, Hüseyin Nihâl Atsız, supporter of the pan-Turkist or Turanism ideology, had noted that while some states with questionable Turkic identity were included in the list (like the Hephthalite Empire), some ostensibly Turkic states (such as Aq Qoyunlu) were left out, and labeled the list a "fabrication." In spite of Atsız' criticism, the concept was made a mainstream topos in Turkish national symbolism in the wake of the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, under the presidency of Kenan Evren.