The Scholars and the Wise Men that have had great contributions in structuring the Turkish nation in the past are just right to define the term of Ideal or the term of Paragon (Ülkü) said in Turkish as a target that gradually gets far away.
The Paragon (Ideal) is just like an appealing light that gets far away when you approach towards it and reminds the influence of the mirage for the thirsty ones. The greatness of the great nations are measured with the quantities and the qualities (with the numbers and qualities) of the moves towards the light.
The Ancient Turks have founded their Great Turkish States (Hun Empire, Göktürk Empire, Seljuk and Ottoman Empires) primarily in their national conscience and then within the environment where the three continents intersect. They have moved towards the frontiers of this great ideal that get far away when approached in the course of all their political and military attacks and movements. These visions of land kept in the heart of Turan ancestry have been transferred from old generations to the new generations and it is resembled to a map drawn in hearts. The milestones of this conscientious map in various directions have always been called with the name of (Kızılelma- Kızılalma) Red Apple.
The term of Kızılelma (Red Apple) is sometimes defined as the west-east-north-south parts in accordance with regions in which the Turks live, in other words, the Turan Provinces. It is also imagined as a city that should be reached from every direction or sometimes as a golden and spherical ruby ball made of unalloyed gold that glitters over a throne or temple in a country and represents the unbearable yearning for the achievement.
This golden ball has been sometimes defined as a signal of the victory, or the symbol of the sovereignty, or any milestone of a place targeted for conquest. I suppose that we could deal with the term of Turan within the historical reality. Afterwards, we shall follow the transition of Kızılelma (Red Apple), one of the internal dynamics of Turan to our nations within its historical chronology: Turan
the beginning, Turan was a name attributed by Persians to the country located in the north-eastern part of their geography where they lived (in other words, Iran). The existence of this word has been known since the 4th century of the Gregorian calendar.
Tura, is the fundamental element of the word of Turan; and it has been cited within the framework of a specific issue in Avesta (the holy book of the religion of the Ancient Persians-Sassanians, the holy book of Zoroastrianism) in the Iranian country.
was used as a personal name or a name of a nomadic tribe in this book;
The society mentioned as Tura-Turan and Turanians has been considered as the enemies of the Persians and the religion of Zoroastrianism.
Franrasyan (=Afrasiyab), one of the Tura Raiders is a Dreadful Enemy according to the Persians. (It is possible that Efrasiyab is Mete Khan, Oguz Khan or Alper-Tunga).
the other hand, Blochet has clearly emphasised the well-known identity of Tura = Turk in his article named as Le nom des Turks dans lAvesta.
The name of Turk or at least the root that constitutes the name of Turk has been known since the first century of the Gregorian calendar. In this case, what the identity of the name of Turk means should be kept in mind. The name of Tûra means extraordinary, brave, and courageous in the Persian language.
The truest hypothesis about Tûra belongs to Marquart. According to this scholar, the famous land of Persians, Airyanem waejo was located in Harizm. The legendary wars between Persia and Tûran were a determinant factor for the future of the world history.
The Warrior nomads have called themselves with the name of Tura in the east of the River Oxus and the Lake Aral. The most significant reference pertaining to this Period, the Ptolemaeus (the Armenian Translator, Şıraklı Ananias translation) has pointed out to the Tûr administrative region in Harizm and it has reflected an important memory of Tûra tribe.
The tribal migration that occurred later has entirely changed the map of races in Asia. The name of Tûra has been used for the new enemies of the Persian people, respectively, the Yue-chees, Kushans, Hionis, Eftalits and Turks.
is understood that the name of Turan has been known since the beginning of the history as a terminology. The idea of Turan has also been observed in Huns and Gokturks. Turanian base of opinions are consisted of the pride that the Gokturk khans and emperors are proud of the Turkish nation (Turkish lineage, Turk tribe), the citation of their kindness, bravery and the other virtues, the efforts to correct all the faults and the similar thoughts.
In the following periods, these opinions attain the peak level with Kaşgarlı Mahmud. This Turkish scholar filled with the love of Turkism expresses the values and the historical mission of the Turkish nation in the opinion of Allah through the quotation of a Prophet Mohameds sacred deeds. Ali Şir Nevai is the admirer of the Turkish culture and he shows that the Turkish language does not remain behind the Persian language.
Turan as a geographical term: It was formed from the name of the Tura people and was finally derived from the name of Tuc/Tur. The term of Turan attributed to the Turkish countries is included within the Hvatay-namak written in the Pevlevi language that was used as a reference book by the Arabian historians and Firdavsi. Nevertheless, Bundahiş merely used the word of Turkestan, and the word of Turan was only included in Denkart and in some parts of the articles in Turfan.
According to Firdavsi, Turan is the country of Turks and the Chinese people. It was separated from Iran with the river Oxus. On the other hand, according to the information obtained in relation with the defeat of Afrasiyab, it has been observed that the beginning points of his lands expand to Kibcak. Having studied upon the handwritten manuscripts, Marquart classifies this name as Koçkar (Başi) and he points out that it is located in a place with the distance of 5 leagues far away from Taraz with Karluk military camp.
According to Firdavsi, the capital of Afrasiyab, Kang-diz is located in a place near the frontiers of China; however, it does not have any correlation with the country of Kang in Bokhara. According to these details, there are some places used as halting places towards the west parts pertaining to the ancient times. In this case, it is interesting to see that the achievement of Kızılelma (ideal of Red Apple) depends solely on the dominance in Turan. As for the Chinese people that are the subordinates of Turan emperors: Firdavsi must have mentioned about their names instead of the ancient Saynav people in Avesta that were assimilated among the Chinese people in Bundahiş.
The Islamic intellectuals (Arabians, Persians and Turks), have naturally used the concept of Turan. The Arabian geographers showed that the countries of Turks start only from the west of the Syr-Darya River; therefore, they did not include the basin of the Transoxania. According to this, the geographers tend to assume in their studies that Turan is the same lands located between the River Oxus and the River Syr-Darya. According to Harizmi, the Persians have called the lands on the coasts of the River Oxus as Marz-i Turan. According to Yakut, Turan is the country of Transoxania; upon the division of the worlds into three parts by Afridun, Turks have called their own countries with the name of Turan in liaison with their emperors, Tuc.