International Conference on “Diwan Lugat-Al-Turk: A Common Value of the Turkic World”
The International Conference on the 950th Anniversary of the Writing of Diwan Lugat-Al-Turk: A Common Value of the Turkic World started at the Bishkek Novotel. The event was organized by the Turkic Academy, the Turkish Language Association, and the Institute of Language and Literature named after Chyngyz Aitmatov of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The conference, which will last for two days on June 24-25, was attended by the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic Rasul Abazbek uulu; General Secretary of the Organization of Turkic States and Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev; President of the Turkic Academy, Prof. Dr. Şahin Mustafayev; President of the Turkish Language Association of the Republic of Türkiye, Prof. Dr. Osman Mert; Advisor to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arslan Koichiev; Rector of Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, Prof. Dr. Alpaslan Ceylan, and President of the National Commission for UNESCO, Prof. Dr. Öcal Oğuz.
In the opening speeches, it was emphasized that Diwan Lugat-Al-Turk, written by Mahmud Kashgari, is not only the oldest known dictionary of Turkish but also an encyclopedia of the Turkic world in the XI century, including the beliefs, mythology, lifestyle, social structure, geography, and folk literature of Turkic tribes and communities. It was stated that Diwan Lugat-Al-Turk, one of the first works of comparative linguistics in the world, is of great importance not only for Turkology and Turkic peoples but also for general science. For this reason, the "950th Anniversary of Diwan Lugat-Al-Turk" was included in the UNESCO Commemoration and Celebration Anniversaries Program for 2024.
Rector of Manas University, Prof. Dr. Alpaslan Ceylan stated that Mahmud Kashgari was not only a linguist but also the first Turkish lexicographer, ethnographer, folklorist, toponymist, geographer, and ethnologist in terms of his knowledge of Turkish tribe organization. Rector Alpaslan Ceylan emphasized that Diwan Lugat-Al-Turk, in which Mahmud Kashgari meticulously studied the identity and cultural values of the Turkish nation, is a cultural treasure that reflects the socio-cultural structure of the period when it was written, as well as the life, beliefs, and worldviews of the Turkish peoples. Rector Prof. Dr. Alpaslan Ceylan stated that one of the most important duties of Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University is to keep the legacy of Mahmud Kashgari alive and to pass on his works to new generations, adding that they will continue their determination to contribute to the promotion and research of this valuable work.
At the conference, the life of Mahmud Kashgari, the purpose of writing Diwan Lugat-Al-Turk, the historical characteristics of the period when it was written, its language, translations, studies on it, the history and ethnography of Turkic languages and Turkic peoples and its importance for the Turkic world and similar issues will be discussed in the papers to be presented by scientists from Türkiye, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
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