An international symposium marking the 100th anniversary of the First Baku Turkology Congress is taking place in Almaty. In 1926, for the first time, participants discussed issues of shared cultural heritage, language, and writing system in the Azerbaijani capital. One of the most significant and decisive decisions at that time was the transition of the Turkic peoples’ languages from the Arabic script to the Latin alphabet. Over two days, leading scholars and experts from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, as well as Turkologists from the U.S. and European countries, are discussing the historical significance of the first Kurultai and the development of Turkology in the 21st century. As part of the event, a large-scale exhibition is presented, featuring unique archival photographs, rare documents, and film footage reflecting the legacy of the historic congress in Baku. The symposium is organized by the Turkic Academy together with TURKSOY, the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, the Turkish Language Association, as well as leading universities in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
«I sincerely hope this conference will contribute to the further development of Turkology and the rapprochement of our peoples. It will also provide an opportunity to discuss the writing of a shared Turkic history and to consider the formation of a unified terminology. Overall, this builds on the questions and challenges first raised by our predecessors exactly a century ago,» noted the President of the Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev.
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