Anadolu Coğrafyası ve Türklerin İlk Göçleri: Kapsamlı Bir Çalışma

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 2, 2710 - 2736, 30.09.2025

Ali Nazmi Çora

https://doi.org/10.24186/vakanuvis.1560757

Abstract

Malazgirt Savaşı'ndan sonra 11. yüzyılda Türk boylarının Anadolu'ya ilk göçleri, Anadolu coğrafyası ve sakinleri üzerinde önemli sosyo-ekonomik sonuçlar doğurmuştur. Bugünkü Türk yerleşiminin temeli olan Anadolu'nun geniş ve zengin kaynaklara sahip toprakları, Anadolu'ya yerleşmelerinin ardından Türkler için önemli bir cazibe merkezi haline gelmiş, bu da daha sonra Selçuklu ve Osmanlı fetihlerine yol açmıştır. Türk boylarının bu göç hareketi Türk tarihi açısından büyük önem taşımaktadır. İnsanlığın tarih boyunca bıraktığı ayak izleri; topraklar, yerleşim yerleri, şehirler, nehirler, dağlar, göller, bu topraklarda yaratılan dinler, ideolojiler ve buralarda gelişen kültürlerdir. “Büyük Avrasya Göçleri” ile başlayan ve ‘Büyük İmparatorluklar Dönemi ’ne kadar uzanan yoğun evrimsel süreç, özellikle Anadolu bölgesinin birçok coğrafi özelliğini şekillendirmiştir. Her kültür ve uygarlık, uygarlık olarak gelişmesi için uygun coğrafi alanlar bulduğu için Anadolu, Asya, Orta Doğu ve Avrupa halkları için her zaman cazip bir toprak olmuştur. Bu bakımdan Anadolu'nun batısından başlayıp doğusuna doğru uzanan her etnik, kültürel ve ideolojik yerleşim büyük önem taşımaktadır. Türk tarihinin temel bir unsuru olarak Türk boylarının bu topraklara yaklaşması ve Orta Asya göçebe halklarının Anadolu'ya yerleşmesi ikincil önemdedir. Yaygın olarak Türkiye olarak bilinen Anadolu, coğrafi olarak Asya'nın kuzeybatıda Karadeniz'in güneyinden güneyde Akdeniz'e, batıda Ege Denizi'ne, doğuda Marmara Denizi ve İstanbul Boğazı'na kadar uzanan bölümüdür. Kültürel olarak Türklerin tarihi anavatanıdır. Ancak Türkler bu topraklara ilk olarak Bizans döneminde göç etmiş ve MS 1071 yılında Bizans İmparatorluğu ile Büyük Selçuklu İmparatorluğu arasında yapılan Malazgirt Savaşı'ndan sonra buraya yerleşmişlerdir. Türk boylarının Anadolu'ya göçü Türk tarihinde önemli bir yer tutmuştur. Türk boylarının Anadolu'ya gelişinden sonra Anadolu coğrafyası ve üzerinde yaşayan halklar büyük sosyo-ekonomik dönüşümler geçirmiştir. Anadolu'daki Türk yerleşiminin temel dayanağı olan geniş ve verimli Anadolu coğrafyası, büyük ve zengin tarım arazilerine sahiptir. Türklerin Anadolu'ya yerleşmesinden sonra, gerileyen Bizans İmparatorluğu'nun batı kesiminde yer alan ve Bizans İmparatorluğu'nun önemli bir parçası olan Rumeli bölgesindeki değer artışları Türklerin dikkatini çekmeye başlamış, Anadolu'nun ova ve kıyılarını yeniden istila etmişlerdir.

Keywords

Coğrafya , Anadolu , Orta Asya , Küçük Asya

Ethical Statement

Makale çalışmasında herhangi bir canlı - insan veya hayvan - üzerinde inceleme yapılmamıştır.

Anatolian Geography and the Initial Migration of Turks: A Comprehensive Study

Abstract

The initial migration of the Turkish tribes to Anatolia, post the Battle of Manzikert, during the 11th century had significant socio-economic consequences on the Anatolian geography and its inhabitants. The basis of present-day Turkish settlement, Anatolia's vast and resource-rich lands, became a key attraction for the Turks after their settlement in Anatolia, leading to the subsequent Seljuk and Ottoman conquests. This migratory movement of the Turkish tribes is of great significance in Turkish history. However, most of the previous studies on this subject are limited to consideration of precious historical resources. The footprints left by humanity throughout history are the lands, settlements, cities, rivers, mountains, lakes, the religions and ideologies created in these lands, and the cultures that developed there. The intense evolutionary process that began with the "Great Eurasian Migrations" and extended to the "Times of Great Empires" periods shaped especially many geographical features of the Anatolian region. Since every culture and civilization finds suitable geographical spaces for its development as a civilization, Anatolia was always an attractive land for Asian, Middle-Eastern, and European peoples. In this regard, every ethnic, cultural, and ideological settlement starting from the west of Anatolia and extending towards the east of Anatolia is of great importance. As a fundamental element of Turkish history, the approach of Turkish tribes to these lands and the relocation of Central Asian nomadic peoples to Anatolia are of secondary significance. Widely known as Türkiye, Anatolia geographically is the part of Asia lying south of the Black Sea in the northwest to the Mediterranean Sea in the south, west of the Aegean Sea, and east of the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus Strait. Culturally, it is the historical homeland of the Turks. However, Turks first migrated to these lands during the Byzantine era and settled here after the Battle of Manzikert, fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Great Seljuk Empire in 1071 AD. The migration of Turkish tribes to Anatolia occupied an important place in Turkish history. After the arrival of the Turkish tribes in Anatolia, the geography and the peoples living in it underwent massive socio-economic transformations. The vast and fertile Anatolian geography, which is the essential basis of the Turkish settlement in Anatolia, has great and rich agricultural lands. After the Turkish settlement in Anatolia, price increases in the Rumelia region, which was a significant part of the Byzantine Empire based in the western part of the declining Byzantine Empire, started to attract the attention of the Turks, and re-invaded the plains and coasts of Anatolia. Nevertheless, these works are far away from concern and appreciation of the geographical situation of Anatolia which the Turkish tribes to be settled.

Keywords

Geography , Anatolia , Central Asia , Asia Minor

References

• Akçar, N. (2022). The Anatolian Peninsula. In European Glacial Landscapes. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128234983000182
• Balci A., S. (2013). Immigrations from the Balkans to Türkiye and immigrant settlements in western Anatolia. https://core.ac.uk/download/152488924.pdf
• Barjamovic, G. (2011). A historical geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press
• Barjamovic, G., Hertel, T., & Larsen, M. T. (2012). Ups and downs at Kanesh: Chronology, history and society in the Old Assyrian period. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.
• Bayer-Altın, T., Türkeş, M., & Altın, B. N. (2023). Evolution of drought climatology and variability in the Central Anatolia region, Türkiye, for the period 1970–2020. Pure and Applied Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-023-03321-y
• Beihammer, A. (2020). Patterns of Turkish Migration and Expansion in Byzantine Asia Minor in the 11th and 12th Centuries. In A. Beihammer, S. Conermann, & S. Pfeiffer (Eds.), Migration Histories of the Medieval Afroeurasian Transition Zone: Aspects of Mobility between Africa, Asia and Europe, 300–1500 C.E. (pp. 166–192). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004425613_007
• Boeschoten, H. (2021). The speakers of Turkic languages. In The Turkic Languages. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003243809-1/speakers-turkic-languages-hendrik-boeschoten
• Bonora, G. L. (2020). The Oxus Civilization and the northern steppes. In The World of the Oxus Civilization. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315193359-30/oxus-civilization-northern-steppes-gian-luca-bonora
• Bryce, T. (2005). The Kingdom of the Hittites (Rev. ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199281329.001.0001
• Çubukçu, A. (2024). The regional geography of Anatolia: Landscape transformation and human intervention. Journal of Anatolian Geography, 12(3), 45–67.
• Çubukçoğlu, S. S. (2020). Türkiye's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Mediterranean Sea: The case of Kastellorizo. https://www.academia.edu/download/35755230/Serhat_S._Cubukcuoglu__Turkeys_EEZ.pdf
• Edmunds, I. (1989). Dogan Avcioglu's vision of the Turkish past: A study on Turkish national historiography. In The Turkish Yearbook (pp. 71–115). Indiana University.
• Erkan, M. & Yılmaz, S. (2020). Distribution of interseismic coupling along the North and East Anatolian Faults inferred from InSAR and GPS data. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(5), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087456
• Ergun, M. (2021). Paleogeography of Caspian Sea, water level fluctuations, and consequences on the environment and civilization. In Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability in Asia: Volume 1: Prospects and Challenges in West Asia and Caucasus (pp. 615–638). Springer International Publishing. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Salih-Terzioglu/publication/351100512_Medicinal_Plants_of_Northeast_Anatolia/links/6345632676e39959d6b71232/Medicinal-Plants-of-Northeast-Anatolia.pdf#page=619
• Ezber, Y., Bozkurt, D., & Sen, O. L. (2024). Impact of atmospheric rivers on the winter snowpack in the headwaters of Euphrates-Tigris basin. Climate Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-024-07267-2
• Faroqhi, S. (2023). Turkish migrations in the greater Turkic-speaking world, 1450–1830. In C. Antunes & E. Tagliacozzo (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Global Migrations (pp. 451–468). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108767095.033
• Fisher, S. N. (1987). The Russian origins of the instrumental rationality of nature. In Man and Nature: An Interdisciplinary Exploration (pp. 113–139). Peter Lang.
• Forlanini, M. (2008). The historical geography of Anatolia and the transition from the Karum-Period to the early Hittite Empire. In M. B. de Boer & J. G. Dercksen (Eds.), Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (pp. 57-86). Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.
• Gürsoy, F., & Badur, B. (2022). Investigating internal migration with network analysis and latent space representations: An application to Türkiye. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9540093/
• Haldon, J., Elton, H., Izdebski, A., Mordechai, L., Newfield, T. P., & White, S. (2014). The climate and environment of Byzantine Anatolia: Integrating science, history, and archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 45(2), 113-161 https://doi.org/10.1162/JINH_a_00682
• Horváth, C. B. (2021). How Eurasia was born. academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/download/65521800/dke_45_a_h_Horvath_Csaba_Barnabas_How_Eurasia_Was_Born.pdf
• Içduygu, A. (2009). International migration and human development in Türkiye. https://core.ac.uk/download/213914157.pdf
• Johanson, L. (2021). The history of Turkic. In The Turkic Languages. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003243809-6/history-turkic-lars-johanson
• Kahveci, G. (2022). General characteristics and distribution of forest relicts in Central Anatolia. Forestist. https://www.forestist.org/Content/files/sayilar/446/192-198.pdf
• Kahveci, G., & Pekşen, O. (2023). Glass production and use in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Anatolia. Erzurum Teknik Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, (17), 91–108. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3117146
• Karamustafa, A. A. (2020). From Oghuz Khan to Exodus: Lineage, heroism, and migration in Oghuz Turk tradition. In The Epic World. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429286698-18/oghuz-khan-exodus-ali-aydin-karamustafa
• Kars, M. E., Başak, A. N., Onat, O. E., Özçelik, T., & others. (2021). The genetic structure of the Turkish population reveals high levels of variation and admixture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(36), e2026076118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2026076118
• Kaya, T., & Demir, A. (2016). The historical geography of North-Central Anatolia in the Hittite Period: An archaeological perspective. Anatolian Studies, 65, 113–132. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0066154616000072
• Kerslake, C. (2021). Ottoman Turkish. In The Turkic Languages. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003243809-12/ottoman-turkish-celia-kerslake
• Kerslake, C. (2021). The Republic of Turkey and its Anatolian heritage. Journal of Modern Turkish Studies, 15(2), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003243809-12
• Kuru, A. (1991). The traditional conception of land and its use in contemporary Turkish geography. In Lands, People, and Cultures (New Geographies) (pp. 89–99). Baha'i Publication Trust.
• Kuru, A. (1993). The geographic approach of the Turkish identity issue [Doctoral dissertation, Tarabnan Press].
• Massa, M. (2016). The story of a forgotten kingdom? Survey archaeology and the historical geography of central western Anatolia in the second millennium BC. European Journal of Archaeology, 19(3), 395-431.
• Nasiroglu, M. (2013). Bosnia and Herzegovina refugees in the 19th and 20th centuries in the light of Ottoman documents. https://core.ac.uk/download/152489052.pdf
• Özkan, N., & Çelik, B. (2011). The importance of Anatolian mountains as the cradle of global diversity in Arabis alpina. Annals of Botany, 108(2), 241–252. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcr136
• Peter, B. M., & Petkova, D. (2015). The genetic legacy of the expansion of Turkic-speaking nomads across Eurasia. PLoS Genetics, 11(4), e1005068. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1005068
• Sepetcioğlu, T. E. (2010). An example for the approaches to the non-Turkish speaking immigrant communities in Türkiye: The case of Cretan immigrants. https://core.ac.uk/download/199392517.pdf
• Tikhomirov, A. (2022). Ethnogenesis of the Turkic peoples: Languages, peoples, migrations, customs. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wVrSDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT2&dq=The+original+homeland+of+the+Turks+is+the+extensive+lands+from+the+Altaic+Mountains+to+the+Lena+River.&ots=nlq4jpOZP-&sig=xZIcR6mTszh-N9Bw43zmivQuCbo
• Turkes, M. (2020). Climate and drought in Türkiye. In Water resources of Türkiye. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-11729-0_4
• Turan, H. (2024). Analyzing Anatolia’s climate and ecological zones: A historical geography approach. Journal of Environmental and Geographic Studies, 18(2), 67–89.
• Ünal, M. (2020). Patterns of Turkish migration and expansion in Byzantine Anatolia: A historical geography approach. In J. Haldon (Ed.), Byzantine and Ottoman Civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean (pp. 123–145). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004425613_008
• Weeden, M. (2012). Review of A historical geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period by G. Barjamovic. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 132(1), 137-139.
• Yıldırım, N. (2014). Who are the Anatolian Turks? Human Biology, 86(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.3378/027.086.0101
• Yunusbayev, B, Metspalu, M, Metspalu, E, Valeev, A, Litvinov, S, Valiev, R, et al. (2015). “The Genetic Legacy of the Expansion of Turkic-Speaking Nomads across Eurasia”, PLoS Genetics, 11(4), 1-24.