Otukan

Ötüken was the name of a wooded and mountainous landscape in Central Asia, which was worshiped by the early Turkish tribes as sacred and mythical significance possessed. According to tradition, they sacrificed to the gods here or making some important decisions. The domination of this sacred landscape served the Turkish Khaghanen to legitimize their rule.

The Tonyukuk inscription, the oldest of the Turkish Orkhon inscriptions, located Ötüken between the Tian Shan and the Orkhon Basin.

After Islamization of the Turks, the scenery lost its religious significance. Mahmoud al - Kaschghari described Ötüken in his Diwan Lughat at- Turk as an area in the Tartar deserts close to Uighurs. In the accompanying map he located it, however, near the headwaters of the Irtysh.

In the 13th century Ötüken appeared in the form Ätügän or Itügän as the name of an earth and fertility goddess among the Mongols.

Today Ötüken is a male Turkish first name and has for the Turkish nationalist movement Ülkücü an ideal significance.