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Orkhon Inscriptions, Old Turkic Runic Monuments from the 8th Century. Mongolia / Getty Images

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THE ORIGINS OF THE TURKS

Peter B. Golden on Etymology, Identity, and Power in the Early Turkic world

Landscape of the Orkhon River Valley. Mongolia / Getty Images

Landscape of the Orkhon River Valley. Mongolia / Getty Images

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WHO INVENTED THE PEOPLES OF EURASIA AND HOW?

Where did the Turks come from

Map of the Turkic World from Mahmud al-Kashgari’s Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (Compendium of the Turkic Dialects). 11th Century / Wikimedia Commons

Map of the Turkic World from Mahmud al-Kashgari’s Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (Compendium of the Turkic Dialects). 11th Century / Wikimedia Commons

Bowl Depicting a Horseman. Iran, Seljuk Period, 12th–13th Centuries. Seljuk Art Combined Iranian Artistic Traditions with the Culture of Turkic Rulers / Wikimedia Commons

Bowl Depicting a Horseman. Iran, Seljuk Period, 12th–13th Centuries. Seljuk Art Combined Iranian Artistic Traditions with the Culture of Turkic Rulers / Wikimedia Commons

Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Turkic States at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Türkiye, 18 April 2026 / Turkish Foreign Ministry / Anadolu via Getty Images

Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Turkic States at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Türkiye, 18 April 2026 / Turkish Foreign Ministry / Anadolu via Getty Images