Turks today are known to inhabit Turkey. But few know that the peoples of central Asia, Iran, Central Asia, Western China, Mongolia, Hungary, Finland, and Russia all have links to the original Turks. Today it is estimated that there are some 135 million Turkic people living throughout the world, only 40 percent of them in Turkey. The word "Turk" derives from a Mandarin character Tu-Kiu. Tu-Kiu means "strong" or "forceful". It was said that the original Turkic peoples of Mongolia descended from wolves, with the great wall of China being used to expel them and to keep ancient China protected from these "Wolves". It was also rumored that a great grey wolf guided and led the first original Turkic peoples form their homelands in Central Asia into Anatolia, today called Turkey.[1]
The Turks originated form the Atlai Mountains in Mongolia. They spoke a Rual-Atlaic language, related to Mongolian, Hungarian, Korean, and Finnish. When one consults a map of Europe with language families, it is easy to note that Hungary and Finland stick out. This helps explain that these people were not originally entirely European and may have in fact originated from Asia. Other Turkish peoples include Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Kazakhs, Mongols, Tartars, Uighars, Azeris, and Yakuts. Turkic people are known for their unique text and language. It cannot be genetically narrowed down to one tribe or people, but the general consensus on language and writing allows the Turkic people to share a common characteristic. [1]
During the Mongol Conquests, Turks began to migrate out of Eurasia and into Iran, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. After the Mongol Conquests Turks found themselves more stretched out inhabiting regions they were foreign to pre-conquest.
Along the Silk Road Turks would move in caravans and finding employment as mercenaries and guards of many cities and trade points along the silk road. As time goes on many Turks were used by the Muslims to agitate the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia. As Turkish peoples accepted Islam the use of these soldiers in the middle east and Iran dramatically increased. Anatolia found itself becoming increasingly Turkish and less European/Aryan. Killing replacing and overthrowing the local groups in Modern Day Turkey despite being minority in the region. This snowballed into more and more Turks inhabiting Turkey and fewer "European" Christians finding themselves governing the region. This would create the environment for the Greco-Turkish conflicts that are commonplace today. The Turkish people used the Silk Road as an opportunity for employment and political gain. So much so that they would find themselves thousands of miles away from their places of origin in newer and more prosperous areas of the middle east and Central Asia. Despite all of this happening very few credit the Turkic peoples and their interesting origin story [3].
[1] https://thediplomat.com/2016/06/the-epic-story-of-how-the-turks-migrated-from-central-asia-to-turkey/f
[2] https://external-preview.redd.it/AQQNsQD-NISdVg6TO4VA-8PSH87VsYLeLs52VKkDs2g.png?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=131b5474df8c1d0c473a755c54873d2b9aa89a28
[3] https://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat65/sub424/item2688.html
Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History with Documents (Oxford, 2016).
Hays, Jeffrey. "Ancient Turks and Altai Turks." Facts and Details. Accessed December 13, 2021. https://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat65/sub424/item2688.html
Rehman, Sonya. "Shehzad Roy: Fighting for Change in Pakistani Education." – The Diplomat. for The Diplomat, September 27, 2013. https://thediplomat.com/2016/06/the-epic-story-of-how-the-turks-migrated-from-central-asia-to-turkey/f