Former ambassador Şakir Fakılı wrote, "Hungarians are a related and friendly people living in Central Europe. Their beginning to take the place they deserve in the Turkic world is a valuable development."
The former ambassador, Şakir Fakılı, penned an article titled "A Related and Friendly Nation in Central Europe: Hungarians."
Fakılı, who served as Consul General in Budapest, Hungary's capital, for four years (2013–2017), began his article for the Ankara Policy Center by recalling that Hungary’s observer membership in the Turkic Council was welcomed with joy in the Turkic world, stating:
"In 1934, Atatürk said to the Hungarian Ambassador Jungerth Arnothy, who presented his Letter of Credence: 'If these two peoples (Turks and Hungarians) had once stood side by side throughout history and realized their kinship, the history of Eastern Europe would have been very different.' It is also said that the surname of the then Chief of General Staff, Rüştü Erdelhun, was given by Atatürk to indicate his descent from the Erdels (Transylvanians) and the Hun Turks. Indeed, many historians have noted that while migrating from Asia to the West, Turks and Hungarians lived side by side for centuries and influenced each other closely in language, culture, and daily life.
A GAIN FOR EVERYONE
During my four years of service in Hungary, I happened to witness how close Hungarians are to us in terms of kinship, and that the name Attila is as common there as Mehmet is here. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I have always remembered this people, who never lose their courtesy, disciplined, well-mannered, educated, virtuous, and well-read, with admiration and respect. I can comfortably say that I have never encountered a Hungarian loudly arguing, shouting, or laughing on the street. A few years ago, Hungary’s joining the Turkic Council as an observer member was an important development joyfully received throughout the Turkic world. It can be confidently said that this development will bring gains both for the Turkic world and for the people of this beautiful Danube country, the Hungarians."
(Şakir Fakılı)
SOVIET HISTORIANS...
Addressing debates about the origins of Hungarians, Fakılı continued:
"Some historians attribute the origins of Hungarians to Turks, others to Finns. Some Turkologists say that during the Warsaw Pact period (1945–1989), the Soviet regime, which did not wish to strengthen Hungary’s ties with the Turkic world, promoted the claim that Hungarians were of Fin origin. Contemporary historians state that the lineage of Hungarians is connected to the Huns, Bashkirs, Avars, Cumans, Pechenegs, and Khazars, and that between 650 and 965 AD, under the dominion of the Khazar state, Hungarians lived in close contact with Turkic tribes, with kinship-level intermingling occurring during that period. Hungarian historian Ferenc Eckart, in his book "History of Hungary," expresses that while migrating westward, Hungarians had no political or economic differences from Turks. In this context, it can be noted that Hungarians and their close relatives, the Székelys, used the Yenisei Turkic alphabet until the 16th century. Indeed, it is accepted that the Hungarian language, which belongs to the Ural-Altaic language group including ours, contains hundreds of words derived from Central Asian Turkic languages. Arthur Koestler (1905–1983), a journalist and writer of Hungarian origin, writes that there are 200 words in Hungarian derived from the Turkic language used by the Khazars (Chuvash dialect)."
"I HAVE A SMALL APPLE IN MY POCKET"
Fakılı drew attention to the similarities between Hungarian and Turkish, stating:
The best example often given for the linguistic similarity between us is the sentence, which is the same in both Turkish and Hungarian: "Cebimde çok küçük elma var" (I have a very small apple in my pocket). Besides this, many Turkish words are still used in modern Hungarian, such as axe, goat, door, beard, jackal, ram, camel, barley, hemp, tray, whip, bowl. Many street names in Budapest today are still Turkish (such as Sipahi, Taban, Tuğrul, Pala, Kartal Streets). Hungary is also considered one of the cradles of Turkology worldwide, with two institutes and famous Turkologists. In Turkey, under Atatürk’s instructions, the Hungarology chair was established in 1936 within the Faculty of Language, History, and Geography at Ankara University."
TO THE TURKS: TÖRÖK
Fakılı noted that Hungarians distinguish Turks from other Eastern peoples and Muslims, writing:
"Hungarians, a nation interested in preserving their history and traditions, call Turks 'Török.' Török is not a borrowed term but a name embraced by Hungarian society. Due to living alongside Turks since ancient times, they consider Turks distinct from other Eastern and Muslim peoples and somewhat see Turks as 'one of their own.' Speaking of ancient times, we cannot omit mentioning the Budapest-born Hungarian writer Arthur Koestler’s book "The Thirteenth Tribe (The Jewish Turks of Central Asia)," which narrates the Khazar Khaganate. Koestler’s book covers the Khazar state that ruled between 650 and 965 AD over the area between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, encompassing present-day Ukraine, parts of Russia, and the North Caucasus, and the Turkic Khazars living there. The author states that Hungarians lived intertwined with the Khazar Turks under the same state roof, used Khazar, a Turkic dialect, alongside Hungarian, and that the first Hungarian king Árpád (meaning barley in Turkish) ascended the throne according to Khazar tradition."
DETAILS ABOUT THE KHAZARS
However, Koestler’s thesis, published in 1971, claims that around the year 750, the Khazar Khaganate adopted Judaism as its official religion, and that a large portion of today’s Jewish population, especially Ashkenazi Jews, have Caucasian origins, with Khazars constituting the dominant element of the current Jewish population. Accordingly, it argues that there is no such thing as a pure Jewish race. Naturally, if there is no single race, the basis of antisemitism seen in Europe would weaken. Of course, historians, anthropologists, geneticists, and scientists are the ones to determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of this thesis."
CLAIMS IN THE BOOK
During that period, many nomadic tribes such as Cumans, Pechenegs, Huns, Oghuz, and Kipchaks continued migrating from Central Asia westward. The book notes that the Khazars had close ties with the founders of the Seljuk dynasty, a branch of the Oghuz, and that one of Seljuk Bey’s four sons was named Israel, and a grandson named David, but this closeness was broken when the Seljuks converted to Islam.
The 300-year life of the Khazar state ended in 965 due to attacks by the Eastern Roman Empire and the Russians, but Khazar elements continued living in the region. From there, migrations moved toward Eastern Europe. The Seljuks’ victory in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 opened the gates of Anatolia to the Turks. Meanwhile, Hungarians continued migrating to Central Europe, their current homeland, and adopted Christianity in 900. Hungary’s homeland lies in the middle of the Slavic and Germanic seas. This remains one of the main factors influencing Hungarian foreign policy to this day. However, Hungarians succeeded in preserving their national unity and identity."
THEIR MOTHER TONGUE IS TURKIC
Fakılı noted that Arthur Koestler’s book mentions that the Karaim Jews declared their mother tongue as Turkish in the first census conducted in Russia in 1897, stating:
"Arthur Koestler also covers the Karaim Jews living in the Khazar state in his book: Karaim is a sect that refuses to learn rabbinical literature. After the fall of the Khazar state, some of them remained in Russia, while others migrated to Poland and other Eastern European countries. In the 1897 census in Russia, 80% of the Karaims declared their mother tongue as Turkish (Khazar dialect). The language used by those who migrated to Eastern and Central Europe began to be influenced by German. However, among the Khazar Jews in Poland, the Karaims were the only community opposing German."
The Yiddish language, once spoken by Eastern Jews, was a strange mixture of Hebrew, medieval German, Slavic languages, and some old languages and dialects. The abundance of German words in modern Yiddish is attributed to German influence when migrating to central Europe. An interesting news article published in the Independent newspaper in the UK on April 20, 2016, supports Koestler’s thesis about the origin of this language:
Dr. Eran Elhaik, an Israeli-born researcher from the University of Sheffield, argues that the origin of Yiddish is not Germany but the villages of Ashkenaz and Iskenaz in northeastern Turkey, and that the majority of today’s Jewish population originates not from the Middle East but, in line with Koestler’s Caucasus theory, from lands formerly belonging to Turks."
KOESTLER WAS ALSO JEWISH
Fakılı reminded that Koestler was a Hungarian Jew and stated:
"Let us return to our friends, the Hungarians. Today, the vast majority of Hungarians are Christians belonging to Catholic and Protestant denominations. Besides Christians, it is said that the largest Jewish community in Europe after England lives in Hungary, although the exact number is not known. Also, Budapest houses Europe’s largest and the world’s second-largest synagogue after the United States. I recall that many Hungarian Jews have German surnames, which attracted foreign interest. I even remember a Hungarian politician saying that his grandfather changed his surname due to fear of anti-Semitism.
It must be acknowledged that Koestler was a Hungarian Jew. In this respect, whether his theses are objective or not is debatable. Later acquiring British citizenship, Koestler also opposed Stalin’s tyranny with his 1941 book "Darkness at Noon," striving to defend science and freedom through his works."
NAZIM HIKMET ON THE LIST
Fakılı noted that Hungarians value names that have left traces in their country and pointed out that Nazım Hikmet is commemorated with a marble plaque, adding:
"Hungarians are a people who greatly value poets, painters, artists, and writers. While strolling in Budapest, one can easily see many streets named after artists and statues of famous artists placed in squares and boulevards. Koestler also had a statue on a long street behind our embassy in Budapest. He was sitting on a bench on the sidewalk, watching his fellow countrymen pass by. Hungarians have not hesitated to show respect not only to their own artists but also to foreigners who have left marks in their country. For example, they commemorated Nazım Hikmet with a marble plaque hung on the door of the Andrássy Hotel, where he stayed for a while in Budapest."
A VALUABLE DEVELOPMENT
For those who want to get to know Hungarians closely, a much broader historical tour is possible. Koestler is just one example. Essentially, our history is full of countless information and documents related to Hungarians. From the conquest of Istanbul and the Hungarian artilleryman Orban, the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the death of Suleiman the Magnificent in Szigetvár in 1566, the Hungarian-origin Ibrahim Müteferrika who established the first printing press, to Lajos Kossuth who sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire after the 1859 Hungarian independence war and whose house in Kütahya is now a museum, and Hungarians who fought as pashas in the Ottoman army, we cannot forget them."
Yes, Hungarians are indeed a related and friendly people living in Central Europe. Their beginning to take their rightful place within the Turkic world is also a valuable development.
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