In the early 20th century, educated Kazakhs were frequently seen wearing Turkish fezzes - red felt hats with a gold tassel that served as a symbol of the Ottoman Empire.

At that time, the Ottoman Empire remained the only major Muslim power on the planet. It ruled vast territories from the Balkans to the Arabian Peninsula and held its ground despite pressure from European powers. For the Kazakh intelligentsia, it was a living example that Muslim and Turkic peoples should possess their own statehood.

Moreover, the Ottoman Empire was perceived as a fairer system than the colonial empires of the West. While Europeans in Africa and Asia destroyed local cultures, introduced racial segregation, and banned native languages, the Ottomans had for centuries allowed various peoples and religions into their state structure - Christians, Jews, and Arabs held high offices and conducted trade.

Myrzhakyp Dulatov

One of those wearing a fez was Myrzhakyp Dulatov. He was the author of the poem "Oyan, Qazaq!" ("Wake Up, Kazakh!") and the novel "Baqytsyz Jamal" ("Unfortunate Jamal"). His fate is among the most bitter of the Alash movement figures.

He was arrested in late 1928. After spending two years in prison, he was transferred to the Solovetsky Islands - one of the most terrifying camps of the Soviet era, lost in the White Sea off the coast of Karelia. Those the authorities considered particularly dangerous were sent there.

In Solovki, he worked as a paramedic in the camp hospital. He was helped into this position by the Orthodox priest Pavel Florensky, himself a prisoner and one of Russia’s greatest religious thinkers, who also perished in the camps.

On October 5, 1935, Myrzhakyp Dulatov passed away in the central infirmary of the Solovki camp. He was 49 years old. His body was buried in a civilian cemetery, though the exact location remains unknown to this day.

After his arrest, his wife, Gainizhamal, was left alone with their children. Their son, Alibek, died very young during those years. Only their daughter, Gulnar, survived; she became a doctor and spent her life collecting her father’s documents, photographs, and personal belongings, donating them to museums in Kazakhstan.

Dulatov was posthumously rehabilitated. His name returned to the people only in the late 1980s - half a century after his death.

Jadidists: The Reformers

By that time, Ottoman Turkey possessed a developed press, universities, and literature. For Kazakh intellectuals who wished to receive an education outside the Russian system, Istanbul opened another door.

The Jadidist movement - a reformist trend among the Muslim peoples of Russia played a crucial role here. The Jadidists advocated for modern education, the printed word, and political awakening. Their ideas spread specifically through Turkic languages Crimean Tatar, Tatar, and Ottoman. The Kazakh newspaper "Qazaq", around which the entire progressive intelligentsia united, drew inspiration from these ideas.

The Fez as a Gesture, Not a Platform

However, the protocols of the Kazakh congresses of 1917 - Turgay, Ural, and All-Kazakh do not contain a single point regarding the unification of Turkic peoples or the creation of a single state. The leaders of Alash Orda, such as Bukeikhanov or Baitursynov, sought autonomy and nothing more.

The sight of a fez on a Kazakh intellectual’s head triggered a nervous reaction from Tsarist officials and not by accident. Any ties to the Ottoman Empire were interpreted as a political threat. The Third Section (the secret police) recorded "Pan-Islamism" and "Pan-Turkism" where people were simply reading the same magazines or wearing similar headwear.

The Soviet authorities later continued this same logic. Turar Ryskulov was accused of "Pan-Turkism" for wanting to preserve the unity of Turkestan. Akhmet Baitursynov was executed on charges of links to a "Turkic People’s Party."