The Third Section

TÜRKMEN NATION

My Beloved Türkmen People!

My Dear Turkmen Nation!

Living as a nation is a great pleasure. The most important condition of being a distinct nation is to be an independent country. Türkmens have yearned to become an indivisible nation for the last seven or eight centuries. Becoming an independent nation gave us the opportunity to attain the centuries-old aspiration of Türkmens. Since the Türkmens attained this independent and neutral nationhood, it has become necessary to write this book in order to review our heritage, which comes from the Prophet Noah, and to support our life in the golden century, golden spirit and golden life.

In 1889, stone tablets and epitaphs, on which there were ancient writings, were discovered on the shores of the Orhon River in Siberia. The scholars studied them and concluded in the year 1893 that the script used in these epitaphs was the old Türkmen alphabet and the texts were written in the old Türkmen language. Thus, through these studies we came to know the old Türkmen alphabet that is composed of 38 letters. There is a sentence in the epitaphs: “Oh Oguz Rulers! Halt and listen! Who can disturb your tradition and your country unless Allah annihilates us or the earth splits?” This indicates the continuance of the Oguz, that is the Türkmens, and emphasizes our wish to be and remain independent. The saying “as written on stone” illustrates this fact much better.

I have thought over my past many times. I have thought a great deal about writing this book, Ruhnama. Every time it