How Denmark Enlightened Turkic Nations

Outstanding Danish scholar Vilhelm Thomsen (1842-1927) deciphered old Turkic Orkhon inscriptions on December 15, 1893. Nowadays, thanks to his intellectual feat, we have at our disposal some 1,500-year-old alphabet to rightfully rank us among ancient civilizations of the world. But, apart from a little street in Ankara (Wilhelm Thomsen Caddesi), Turkic nations have not commemorated this great man with due respect. No streets or monuments of Professor Thomsen in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, etc. Meanwhile, for example, there are streets and monuments of an Indian politician Mahatma Gandi and French soldier Charles de Gaulle in Kazakhstan. However, Mr. Gandi and General de Gaulle did nothing for Kazakhstan. Professor Thomsen did a great job to restore the original Turkic alphabet. But, the modern Turkic-speaking nations use Arabic, Cyrilic, and Latin scripts, being oblivious of their original script fully compatible with the sounds of their languages, while the foreign alphabets have been only roughly adjusted for Turkic languages. Of course, our experts deeply respect Professor Thomsen. But, we should once again promote his glorious achievements before general audience in newspapers, TV, social networks.

There are visual materials, vividly illustrating how Professor Thomsen’s deciphiring activities have contributed to Kazakh culture. Firstly, it is a photo of artistically rendered “Kazakhstan” inscriptions in the old Turkic and Kazakh Cyrillic scripts, displayed inside the headquarters of the Kazakh Union of Writers. Oddly enough, the original Turkic alphabet was celebrated in arts and humanities of the Soviet Kazakhstan, but it doesn’t receive the similar publicity in the supposedly sovereign Republic of Kazakhstan.

Secondly, opening credits of great Kazakh epic movie Qyz Zhibek, 1972, consist of its title transliterated in the old Turkic, Arabic, and Kazakh Cyrillic scripts. Thus, three major stages of development of Kazakh literacy were emphasized. Once again, Professor Thomsen’s indispensable contribution turned long-forgotten mysterious inscriptions into meaningful representations of the pristine Turkic language.

Well, for the sake of comparison, we should mention brilliant Soviet scholar Yuri Knorozov (1922-1999), who deciphered Mayan hieroglyphics of pre-Columbian Americas. During his lifetime Professor Knorozov received heartfelt acknowledgements from political and scholarly communities of the Americas. There is an impressive monument to Professor Knorozov in Mexico. But for the time being, Professor Thomsen has not been properly commemorated by the Turkic nations yet.

The basic difference between Professor Thomsen and Professor Knorozov is that the Dane was a representative of the smaller nation, while Professor Knorozov represented the giant empire. Maybe, this is a reason why the Dane’s achievements have not received due acknowledgement. Besides, the old Turkic inscriptions are the legacy of pre-Islamic Turkic peoples. That is why, wide promotion of the old script might run contrary to the agenda of Islamized Turkic nations. So, frankly speaking, celebration of Professor Thomsen is important in terms of multi-culturalism. Because, original Turkic cultural values, which were researched by the Dane, could be an effective weapon against obvious risks of further Islamization of Turkic nations. By the way, almost exclusively the old Turkic inscriptions have survived only in relatively tolerant Siberia and Mongolia. But, such artifacts were destroyed in Central Asia and Caucasus by Islamists. It is quite symbolical that among the first old Turkic words, deciphered by the scholar, was the name of the only Turkic god — 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃 teŋri (Tengri).

Actually, in a way, Professor Knorozov also revived traditional cultural values of pre-Columbian Americas. As a matter of fact, both of these linguists promoted multi-culturalism. Besides, the blessed memory of the linguist can be a basis for further promotion of Danish science, arts, and humanities in a vast region of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. This publication might draw attention of Danish society, its politicians, and businessmen. Then, together with Central Asian and Kazakh authorities, they could make concrete steps to celebrate the scholar. Say, it would be a nice idea to erect a monument to Professor Thomsen in Almaty or inaugurate his street in Tashkent.

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