The Grey Wolf Legend
The legend tells of a young boy who survived a battle. A she-wolf finds the injured child and nurses him back to health. He subsequently impregnates the wolf which then gives birth to ten half-wolf, half-human boys. One of these, Ashina, becomes their leader and instaures the Ashina clan which ruled the Göktürks and other Turkic nomadic empires.
In the 1930s, when Turkish ethnic nationalism held its sway in Turkey, Bozkurt, Asena and Ergenekon were selected deliberately. The symbol is embossed on top of the stage of the personal theater of Atatürk's residence in Ankara, near the art gallery. Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) used the motif of this legend. For example, on February 13, 1931, during his speech at the Türk Ocağı in Malatya, he said "the Turkish nation, who will use the railways (demiryolları), will feel the honour of accomplishing the achievement of the first craftmanship and blacksmiths (demircilik) of its origin."
Read more about this topic: Asena
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