PERSECUTION AGAINST THE KHAKAS TURKIC INTELLECTUALS DURING GREAT TERROR AND THE ROLE OF LOCAL SOVIET NEWSPAPERS

Abstract

During the Soviet atrocities in 1937-1938 which realized under the leadership of Stalin 680 thousand people were shot to death and 1.5 million people were arrested and sent to concentration camps. On the one hand the persecution and massacres were conducted against the elites and on the other hand against the socially dangerous or ethnically suspicious elements. In this study it is tried to be revealed the persecution against Turkic intellectuals during the great purge period. In this context Siberian Turks Union which was established by Khakas Turkic intellectuals and the activities carried out against the members of this union are discussed. In addition, it has been evaluated the role of the regional newspapers of Krasnoyarsk Worker, Soviet Khakassia and Soviet Siberia those which serve as official propaganda and censorship tools of the communist regime and which are used to manipulate the emotions and thoughts of society in accordance with party policies. In these years, Soviet newspapers developed a systematic hate speech against the so-called public enemies. They acted to legitimize the executions, to subdue people by intimidating and to target community leaders as an enemy. In this article, the oppression and atrocities against the Khakas Turkic intellectuals and how these events are reflected in the relevant Soviet newspapers were examined in detail.