The Turkic epic “Dede Korkut” was formed in Central Asia, but as a result of the advance of the Oghuz Turkic tribes to Asia Minor, the geographical environment of the epic was transferred to the Armenian Highlands, where its final formation took place. An important circumstance is the presence of the figure of Tagavor, the Christian ruler of Trebizond and Bayberd, the opponent of the Oghuz Turks, in Chapter VI of the epic.

KeywordsTheodoros Gavras (Theodore Gabras) Byzantium Pontus Trebizond Armenia Tagavor (Takfur) “Dede Korkut” Turks.

The image of the Armenian ruler (king) as an opponent of the Turks has been repeatedly recorded in the Turkic epic tradition. One such example is the image of Tekfur or Tekfur Khan, i.e. the king of Cilician Armenia, in the work “Oghuz-nameh” by the Iranian author Rashid al-Din Fadlullah of the XIII–XIV centuries. The article presents references to Tekfur found in that work and an examination of the original forms. The fact that the historical prototype of the image of Tekfur in the “Oghuz-nameh” is the king of Cilician Armenia is confirmed by more detailed references to Tekfur in another work of the historian – “Tārīkh-i Afranj” (“History of the Franks”), as well as in the works of other Muslim authors.

KeywordsRashid al-Din Fadlullah “Oghuz-nameh” Tekfur (Takfur) Ar¬me¬nia (Cilician Armenia) Turks.