Turkic Identity and the Depoliticization of Culture: A Case Study of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TÜRKSOY)
Journal: ScholarlyCommons (University of Pennsylvania)
Year: 2013

Since its installation as the new capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, Astana has served as an urban synecdoche for the country's post-Soviet nation-building project. Boasting a futuristic architectural landscape punctuated with abstract references to the past, the city melds universalizing aesthetics with a mythological historical narrative. My paper explores Kazakhstan's nation-building project through the activities of TÜRKSOY, a multinational cultural organization self-styled as the "UNESCO of the