Persecuted turkology: The ukrainian context

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to consider the problem of the development of the Turkic Studies in Ukraine, and particularly the activities in this context of Agatangel Krymskyi. Periodisation of the development of the Ukrainian Turkic Studies has been made, and its goal and objectives have been identified. In particular, the paper proves the needs for studying the Turkic-Ottoman written documents concerning the History of the Cossack-Hetman Ukraine taking into account the civilisational measurement. This paper demonstrates the importance of the Ukrainian Language in the Turkish-Ukrainian diplomatic correspondence, issues of methodology of scientific studying and publication of oriental written documents relating to the History of Ukraine, including the ones in the Turkic languages. The idea has been formulated that studying archival Turkish documents is crucial for the formation of an adequate comprehension of the actual Turkish-Tatar-Ukrainian relations, аs well as needs for studying the History of the Cossackdom origin. Such concept of doing research is important for the setting-up and development of the Turkic Studies, and partially for those ones of the Crimean-Tatar Studies, primarily in regard of the historic aspect of the Ukrainian Cossackdom genesis and informs us of repressions of the Ukrainian scholars in the field of the Turkic Studies. The research has been done while observing the principles of historism and historic source-studying systemacity, аnd also principles of an interdisciplinary approach and the norm for identification of authenticity and informational value of the data and facts have been identified. The academic novelty of the study is a civilisational comprehension of the development of Oriental Studies in Ukraine, and first of all that of Historiography and Studies of Sources related to the Turkish-Ottoman written documents concerning the Cossack Period of Ukraine using for that purpose an adequate methodology, and also bearing in mind the culturological measument of historic process; besides, there have been set up the logic phases in the formation and development periodisation of Turkology as a specific branch of historic science under the circumstances of a repressive impact. The Conclusion. Turkic Studies were started in the 19th century by such Ukrainian intellectuals, as Mykola Hulak, Olexandr Navrotskyi, Lev Lopatynskyi very of essential importance for a further development of the Studies regardless of the complicated life conditions due to prosecutions from the side of the Muscovite-Russian totalitarian political regime. In 1933 the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences was proclaimed being the Centre of the nationalistic and counter-revolutionary activities, which h resulted in a lot of such outstanding Ukrainian Orientalists, particularly Turkologists, such as Mykola Hulak, Olexandr Navrotskyi, Lev Lopatynskyi, Agatangel Krymskyi, Vasyl Dubrovskyi, Yevhen Zavalynskyi, Omelian Pritsak, Yaroslav Dashkevych, Hryts Khalymonenko, Valeriy Marchenko, Mykola Myroshnichenko and others, suffered much from prosecutions by the Muscovite-Russian and Soviet-Communist regimes.