A Re-reading of the Sky God Belief

Within the scope of this study, it is aimed to re-read the “Old Turkish Belief” and the concepts related to it. We can say that conceptual qualities are taken into consideration in the study conducted on the subject. The first striking element from a historical perspective is the concepts of the pre-Islamic Turkish belief. The concepts used to express belief in “God” in the sources give us the first starting point on the subject. In order to understand the subject, attention is drawn to how concepts such as Tengri, Kök Tengri, Sky God (Gök Tanrı), Yağız Yir, Yir-Sub, Almighty God, Göktürk God and Öd Tengri are handled and how these concepts are used. We see that more than one concept was used within the Old Turkish Belief. Whether these concepts were used interchangeably or as separate concepts constitutes an important point in terms of the understanding of God. Because this constitutes the most critical point of the discussion on whether the Turks had a monotheistic understanding or a polytheistic understanding. In terms of religious practices, conceptual discussions again come to the fore. One of the most important issues here is how the concepts used appear in the sources encountered. In which sources and in which languages they are expressed is a remarkable evaluation in terms of understanding the subject. The subject has been tried to be explained through concepts such as Shamanism, Kamism, Theism and Tengrism. The reason why these concepts are important to us is that they have been used in similar ways in different sources. These concepts we have expressed and the practices of their religious representatives have been interpreted in different ways by researchers. It has been discussed which is referred to as the “Old Turkish Religion”. We have tried to explain that there are many discussions on the subject and which views are the most influential in these discussions.