― 21 апреля 2022 г.

Conference on "Issues regarding the Translation of Chinghiz Aitmatov's "Jamila" into Russian"

A Conference on "Issues regarding the Translation of Chinghiz Aitmatov's "Jamila" into Russian" was held at the Yıldırım Beyazıt University in Ankara.

The conference held on the July 15th Campus of the university  was moderated by Mr. Ömer Erdoğan who prepared the book entitled "Chinghiz Aitmatov: The Awakening of the Steppe" on the life and work of the famous Kyrgzyz author and featuring articles written by some of his acquaintances for publication.

In the speech he delivered at the conference which gathered the Rector of the Yıldırım Beyazıt University Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Aydınlı along with many guests, TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev touched upon events and activities carried out by TURKSOY to promote  illustrious artists and intellectuals of the Turkic World on a global scale and said that within this framework, the Medal of Chinghiz Aitmatov and the art album "Reading Chinghiz Aitmatov" published by TURKSOY in commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the birthday of the famous Kyrgyz author in 2018 were handed over to many key figures in Turkey and worldwide.

Secretary General  Sultan Raev further said: “"Jamila" is the masterpiece of the great author and diplomat Chinghiz Aitmatov who was inspired by the Turkic civilization, philosophy and culture as a 3000-year-old legacy of the Kyrgyz people of Yenisei who left behind hundreds of manuscripts and founded an Empire. Hence, I do attach great importance to the fact that this cornerstone of Kyrgyz literature is being discussed by scholars and students in such a distinguished academic event today.

As  a matter of fact, the famous French author Louis Aragon once qualified Atmatov's "Jamila"  as the most beautiful love story of all times. Hence, I sincerely wish this conference to bring about fruitful results as to the recognition and promotion of the precious legacy left behind by Chinghiz Aitmatov who is one of the most important auhtors of the Turkic World.”

Mr. Ömer Erdoğan who also took the floor at the conference said a few words about cultural projects they have been carrying out under the motto "Anatolia between East and West" since 2015 further added: "The part of our projects dedicated to the East is being carried out based on Aitmatov and his works. Within this framework, we have published 5 books since 2016. We have made it possible for more than 250 Heads of States, political figures and scholars to contribute to our research on  issues regarding the translation of  "Jamila" into Russian and we translated their contributions issued in approximately 30 languages into Turkish." 

Mr. Erdoğan who further said that international events have been carried out in Turkey and abroad as part of projects on "Anatolia between East and West" added that within this framework, an anthology of all works by Aitmatov was created, also dealing with his political activities as a statesman. Mr. Erdoğan stressed that "While drafting this anthology we also relied on a paper by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asel Isayeva from Kyrgyzstan who claims that some names of places and characters as well as some proverbs mentioned in Aitmatov's "Jamila" and particularly those thereof with an Islamic religious connotation were modified when translating the book from Kyrgyz into Russian language."

At the conference, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asel Isayeva also took the floor and touched upon her dissertation and answered questions asked by participants.