Soviet Ideological Space and the Discourse of the First Turkological Congress in the Newspaper “Communist”

Abstract

The First Turkological Congress that held in Baku in 1926 became one of the most significant landmarks in the scientific, cultural, and social life of the Turkic peoples. The Congress served as a large-scale international scholarly platform where important issues such as the development of Turkic languages, the adoption of a common alphabet, terminology, issues of literary language, history, and ethnography were extensively discussed. The presentable Congress that bringing together scholars, writers, and public figures from various regions of the Turkic world assumed a special importance not only from an academic perspective, but also as a catalyst for cultural integration and the formation of a shared intellectual space among Turkic peoples. The large discussions and adopted decisions concerning the transition to a new Latin-based alphabet in the Congress subsequently played a significant role in the history of literacy, education, and cultural modernization throughout the Turkic world.

The periodical press of the time, particularly the newspaper entitled as “Communist”, played a special role in the preparation and organization of the Congress and in delivering its ideas to the wider public. The newspaper devoted considerable attention to alphabet reform, the future development of Turkic languages, and Turkological studies during the Congress, while also providing regular coverage of the proceedings of the Congress. This article examines the activities of the newspaper entitled as “Communist” before and after the Congress and analyzes its role in promoting the idea of the new alphabet, spreading of the scientific thought about Turkology, and the formation of the public opinion.

At the same time, the study further demonstrates that the newspaper entitled as “Communist” functioned not only as a source of information, but also as an influential ideological and intellectual platform that helped direct the scientific and social discourse of the period. The newspaper’s contribution in the field of spreading the ideas of the Congress, formation of Turkological scientific thought, promoting educational and enlightenment reforms and orientation of the public opinion is attracted to analysis on the basis of the concrete samples.