Turkey to open Göktürk museum in Mongolia
Fatma Aksu - ULAANBAATAR
Turkey is set to reorganize the area around the Orkhon inscriptions of Bilge Tonyukuk, a military leader of a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Central Asia known as the Göktürks, and build a museum to showcase remnants found at the surrounding archeological site in the Mongolian capital. “This is the easternmost boundary for old Turkic tribes. The area beyond this was [inhabited by] Mongols,” said historian Prof. Ahmet Taşağıl, a Göktürk expert.
Taşağıl said the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) was planning to build a museum in the area where the Göktürk monuments, known as the Bain Tsokto inscriptions, were preserved as they were originally built.
“At the time, this place was a social complex where ideas were inscribed and ceremonies were held in order to enable future generations to draw a lesson,” the professor said, explaining that the inscriptions were full of lessons on how the second Göktürk state was founded, how its enemies were fought and how to properly run a state.
According to Taşağıl, the original stele will be removed once TİKA completes building the museum.
“In the last stage of the project, original monuments will be moved to buildings which will eventually become a museum for protection purposes and replicas will be put in their place,” he said, praising Turkey for finally “owning up its treasures.”
Upon orders from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, TİKA ran a $5 million project to build an 11-kilometer asphalt road in Ulan Bator’s Nalaikh district to enable easy transportation to the site.
Taşağıl said the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) was planning to build a museum in the area where the Göktürk monuments, known as the Bain Tsokto inscriptions, were preserved as they were originally built.
“At the time, this place was a social complex where ideas were inscribed and ceremonies were held in order to enable future generations to draw a lesson,” the professor said, explaining that the inscriptions were full of lessons on how the second Göktürk state was founded, how its enemies were fought and how to properly run a state.
According to Taşağıl, the original stele will be removed once TİKA completes building the museum.
“In the last stage of the project, original monuments will be moved to buildings which will eventually become a museum for protection purposes and replicas will be put in their place,” he said, praising Turkey for finally “owning up its treasures.”
Upon orders from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, TİKA ran a $5 million project to build an 11-kilometer asphalt road in Ulan Bator’s Nalaikh district to enable easy transportation to the site.
