― 24 июля 2023 г.
First visit of TURKSOY to Irak
Founded in 1993 and celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the International Organisation of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) visited the Republic of Iraq for the first time in its history and started to work for the survival of Turkic culture in this ancient geography.
TURKSOY delegation consisting of TURKSOY Chief Advisor to TURKSOY Secretary General Kemal Ün and TURKSOY Siberia Expert Dr Timur B. Davletov visited Iraq, where Turkmens, who are a part of the Turkic world, have been living since the dawn of time to promote a book and to hold preliminary meetings.
Following its meetings with Mr. Mehmet Tütüncü, the President of the Federation of Turkmeneli Associations and Kutluhan Yayçılı, the Representative of the Iraqi Turkmen Front of Turkey in Ankara, the delegation of TURKSOY held events and established contacts with important cultural and artistic cities of the region such as Zakho, Duhok, Erbil, Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu, Baghdad, Samarra, Tal Afar and Mosul.
Hosted by Kirkuk Brotherhood Hearth, a promotional meeting and signature ceremony was held for the book "Let's Know the Celebrities of Turkmenelia" by Kemal Beyatlı, President of Iraqi Turks Culture and Solidarity Association, famous Turkmen writer and poet, published by TURKSOY and edited by Dr. Bahadır Gülbahar, Kemal Ün and Dr. Timur B. Davletov. Following the signature cedremony, books were distributed to Turkmen children and TURKSOY t-shirts were offered as gifts.
According to Abdülhalik Hürmüzlü, President of the Kirkuk Brotherhood Quarry and Hijran Bayatlı, Inspector of the Kirkuk Turkmen Education Directorate, who hosted the promotional event of this book dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and the 30th anniversary of TURKSOY and aimed at Turkmen children in Iraq, this event attracted great interest from adults, children and youth as well as media organizations. Many Iraqi local and national press and TV organisations such as Anadolu Agency from Turkey, Turkmeneli TV, TEBA Media Group, as well as many local and national press and TV organisations from Iraq covered the presentation of this children's book published by TURKSOY for the first time for Iraqi Turks, and announced that TURKSOY has initiated the first efforts to keep the national culture of Iraqi Turks alive.
Under the leadership of Mr. Ali Koprulu, imam of the Grand Mosque and Prophet Daniyel Mosque in Kirkuk, the delegation of TURKSOY then visited the Ottoman Turkish Officers' Martyrs' Cemetery and the ruins of the Buğday Hatun Madrasah and the Mausoleum in the Fortress of Kirkuk restored by TIKA before meeting with Mr. Hashim Salihi, the President of the Association of Iraqi Turkmen Political Prisoners and Martyrs' Families in Kirkuk Barracks. Later on delegation members paid a visit to the tradesmen of the Kirkuk Kayseri Grand Bazaar and held meetings with Prof. Dr. Hussein Ali Akbar, President of Zirve Turkmeneli Research and Development Centre as well as with other Turkmen scholars.
Within the framework of its visit, the delegation of TURKSOY further met with Prof. Dr. Imran Jamal Hasan (Omran J. Hasan), the Rector of the Kirkuk University and Ali Hammadi, the Deputy Governor for Technical Affairs of Kirkuk. Delegation members also were guests of the "We are Turkmen" programme of the Swedish MURKF Radio (Malmö Ungdomars Röst Radio/Malmö Youth Voice Radio) hosted by Nebil Küzeçi, one of the Turkmen writers and met with Feyha Beyatlı (Zeynelabidin), the first Turkmen woman MP of the Iraqi Parliament and President of the Iraqi Turkmen Women Association.
The delegation of TURKSOY which also met with the Member of the Iraqi Turkmen Front's FMC and the Political Bureau, Organisation Officer Emin Garip, the ITC Information and Media Officer Turgut Hürmüzlü, the Iraqi Turks Association Kirkuk Representative and Turkmeneli Beşiktaş President Cengiz Şihler (Beyatlı), Iraqi Parliament Turkmen MP Erşat Salihi's Media Officer İbrahim Köprülü, the Turkmen Language Magazine Salah Behlül Ali Çamurcu and the delegation of Turkmeneli Students and Youth Union, later on visited the Turkmen Palace in Tuz Khurmatu, which was built by former Turkmen Member of Iraqi Parliament Niyazi Mimaroğlu and interiorly renovated by TIKA. Then, delegation members who came together with the Mimaroğlu team, met with the administration of Turkmen Assembly and visited Tuz Khurmatu Turkmen Martyrdom.
Members of the delegation further met with H. E. Mr. Ali Rıza Güney, the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Baghdad, who participated in the mevlis for martyrs at Abu Hanifa en-Numan Mosque in the Iraqi capital Baghdad within the scope of "July 15th, The Day of Democracy and National Unity", and also visited the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Baghdad, before meeting with Dr. Faruk Abdullah Peri (Faruk Abdullah Abdurrahman), the President of the Turkmen Brotherhood Hearth in Baghdad. Dr. Faruk Abdullah Peri, one of the Turkmen leaders whose father Brigadier General Abdullah Abdurrahman was executed in 1980, expressed that they would be honoured to host cultural, artistic and academic activities to be carried out by TURKSOY and to help establish the necessary contacts in Iraq.
In the Iraqi capital, delegation members visited the Abdulkadir Geylani Complex, which was restored in 2020 by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) under the auspices of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Samarra, a city established for Turks during the reign of Abbasid Caliph Mutassim and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007, and the Great Mosque of Samarra (Al-Mutawakkiliye Mosque) built by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil in the IX century.
The TURKSOY delegation visited Tal Afar, Mosul and Dohuk where the offices of the Iraqi Turkmen Front are located and held meetings and was received in Erbil by Mehmet Mevlüt Yakut, Consul General of the Republic of Turkey in Erbil.In Erbil, the TURKSOY delegation visited the Political Bureau of the Grand National Assembly of Turkmen People, was received by Aydin Marouf, Regional Minister for Formations in Northern Iraq, visited Erbil Castle and Kayseri Grand Bazaar, where Turkmens live densely, and met with shopkeepers and local Turkic opinion leaders.
Representatives of the Turkmeneli Turkic community at all levels expressed their great satisfaction that the International Organization of Turkic Culture, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, came to this region for the first time in its history and launched concrete activities to keep the ancient Turkic culture alive here and that TURKSOY management will also visit this region in the coming period. Turkmen Turks of of the Iraki Turkmen region, who were also informed about the initiative of TURKSOY to declare a "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" every year as an international organization which updates its field of activities aiming at Turkic nations without a state, were very excited about this research on the announcement of Kirkuk as the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World in the coming period. Representatives of the Turkmeneli Turkic community further expressed their gratitude to the delegation of TURKSOY which held preliminary meetings with many states and non-governmental organisations in Iraq and thanked TURKSOY for taking concrete steps for the survival of Turkmen culture also expressing their readiness to provide support in this process.
