Asena is the name of a she-wolf associated with theGöktürks'foundation myth.[1] According to the myth, the ancestress of the Göktürks was a she-wolf, mentioned, yet unnamed in two different "Wolf Tales".[2] The legend of Asena tells of a young boy who survived a battle; a female wolf finds the injured child and nurses him back to health. The she-wolf, impregnated by the boy, escapes her enemies by crossing the Western Sea to a cave near theQocho mountains and a city of theTocharians, giving birth to ten half-wolf, half-human boys. Of these,Yizhi Nishidu[3] becomes their leader and establishes theAshina clan, which ruled over the Göktürk and otherTurkic nomadic empires.[4][5]
In certain cultural narratives and mythological accounts, the character of Asena, with its symbolic association to a she-wolf, is denoted by the name "Bozkurt" (meaning "gray wolf" inTurkish), embodying a significant archetype with multifaceted connotations.[6]
With the rise ofTurkish ethnic nationalism in the 1930s, the veneration of figures of Turkic Mythology, such asBozkurt, Asena andErgenekon resurged.
TheTurkish Air Force'sBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker tanker squadron is nicknamed ''Asena''.