Were the Trojans Turkish?
The Trojans were Turks. This claim is based on four factors: 1.
Information of Old European authors, who write about the Turkic
origins of the Trojans. The Fredegar Chronicle of the 7th century,
Gesta Francorum of the 12th century, Tyreli William of the 12th
century, Andrea Dandalo of the 14th century and many others
considered the Turks to have descended from the Turcos of the
Trojan origin. Felik Fabri, a German author, referred the Turkic
history of Troy to the older period - to the time of Teucros.
Giovanni Mario Filelfo informs in his work "Amyris" that Sultan
Mehmed the 2nd presented his victory over Greeks as a triumph of
justice. According to him, with the conquest of Istanbul the Turks
revenged the Greeks who had once occupied it.
Sultan Mehmed, the Turkish sultan, who was well-informed about the
Turkic origins of Troy, was right to consider the conquest of
Istanbul as vengeance for Troy. Later in the 20th century Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk considered his victory on foreign invaders as
vengeance for Ektor, a Trojan hero, the son of the last Trojan king
- Priam.
In fact these Turkish victories were not at all invasion, but
liberation of old motherland and vengeance for Troy of which
evidence the European sources of 7th-15th centuries.
After Troy was destroyed by the Greeks, its population migrated in
different directions, among which two of them are of particular
interest: those who migrated to Italy founded the Etruscan
civilization and those who settled in the north of Europe were
dealt with in old Germanic sagas as the Turkic kings of Sweden and
Norway.
The second factor to prove the Turkic origins of the Trojans is the
Etruscan writings that has been deciphered by Ch.Garasharli through
Old Turkic languages. The Etruscans are known to have descended
from the Trojans who had migrated to Italy after the collapse of
Troy.
Some European researchers yet in the previous centuries having
found Turkic words in the Etruscan language, considered it to be of
Turkic origin. They could not however go further on into the texts,
as their translation needed a deeper knowledge of Old Turkic
languages which could serve as key to the Etruscan writings. It was
done by Garasharli in his researches.
Garasharli is right to say that the old European sources had no
reason to fabricate false stories about Troy. He presents numerous
facts of the Old Turkic names of the Trojans that prove the
information of the Old European authors. It is the third factor to
prove the Turkic origins of the Trojans:
Priam, the name of the last Trojan king, is obviously the same
Priyam, the name of a Turanian commander, described in an old
Turkic (Kazakh) epic. It should be mentioned that the Kazakh
anthroponomy is particularly distinguished among Turkic languages
for containing evident early Mediterranean (Trojan, Pelasgian)
names. Even the name of the Ionian (Pelasgian) folk singer and
poet, Homer, turns out to have its counterpart in the Kazakh epic:
Gumar, a mythological Turanian folk singer
Garasharli discovers in the anthoponomy of the Trojans a whole
group of Turkic names, which have evident counterparts in the old
Turkic, Kazakh, Kirghizian, Chuvash and other Turkic languages.
Dardan, an ancestor of Priam's generation, is the same Kirghizian
Dardan - a personal name. And the interpretation is reasonable:
Turkic Dardan stems from the Kirghizian appellative dardan, which
forms the personal name meaning "healthy", "enormous",
"clumsy".
Alber, the name of a Trojan commander, is the same old Turkic
Alper, denoting "hero", "brave" (O.Turk. alp, alb, "hero", "brave"
- er "man") which was widely used as a component of Old Turkic
personal names, and in the name of Alper Tonga, a Turanian
ruler.
Garasharli discovers this name in old Germanic sagas. "The saga
about Nibelungs" tells us about the albs ("heroes") and their king
Alberikh - Trojan by origin, who were the leaders of the
Trojans..
Askan, the name of a Trojan hero, is completely consonant with an
Old Turkic personal name - Askan, used by the Huns. Today it is
observed in the anthroponomy of the Turkic Altays. Ch.Garasharli
derives its origin from the appellative askan ("violent",
"naughty") used in Turkic languages.
Paris, the name of Priam's son, is found to coincide with the
Turkic (Khakas) Paris, a variant of the personal names
Baris/Barys/Barysh/Bars, used in other Turkic languages. It is
derived from the Turkic parys/pars/bars ("ounce", "snow leopard")
and used as the symbol of strength in Turkic anthroponomy. It is
also observed in such compound personal names as Barsbeg, Barskan,
Barısbek (Kazakh), Barisbi (Karachay - Balkar), etc.
The onomastic analogies found by the author are more and more. He
finds that Aytilla, Priam's sister, to be the same as the
Kirghizian Aytilla, a male name.
Batiya, a female personal name, referred to the daughter of
Teucros, the first king of Troy, is the same Batiya used in the
Kazakh anthroponomy as female name.
Thus, the author finds the names of both Priam and his generation
in Turkic anthroponomy.
Garasharli finds out analogies between Turkic-Trojan gods. For
instance, Bayana, Athorodita's epithet in Troy. In Greek mythology
Athorodita was known as the goddess of marriage, birth and
nursing". The same function belonged to the Turkic Goddess, Bayana,
which has obvious Turkic roots. Composed of the Turkic bay
("protectress", "great", "sacred") and ana ("mother"), the theonym
denotes "the protectress of the tribe", "the great mother of the
tribe".
Finally, the fourth factor is the Old Turkic (Trojan) lexicon
borrowed into the Scandinavian languages from the Trojan language,
brought here by the Trojans after the collapse of Troy.
The existance of Turkic Trojans in Scandinavia was dealt by prof.
Sven Lagerbring (1707-1787) in his book "The Turkic fathers of the
Scandinavians". In his book he demonstrates a lot of Turkic words
used in the Swedish language with the same meaning as in
Turkic.
