― 3 июня 2025 г.
Fourth Literature and Books Festival of the Turkic World in Baku
The Fourth Literature and Books Festival of the Turkic World, organised by the International Organisation for Turkic Culture TURKSOY in cooperation with the Authors' Union of Azerbaijan was held in Baku from May 24th to May 31st, 2025 within the framework of the ‘Year of Bahtiyar Vahabzade’ was attended by a large number of participants and attracted great interest.
The opening ceremony of the festival gathered Anar,the President of the Authors' Union of Azerbaijan; Isa Hebibbeyli, the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan; Elchin Mirzabeyli, Member of Parliament; Aynur Mayemerova, the Representative of the International Turkic Academy; and numerous renowned authors and poets from the Turkic World.
The festival, which lasted for eight days and attracted great interest from literature enthusiasts, introduced countries of the Turkic World, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Hungary,as well as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, with each of them being presented as a guest of honour each day.
Stands set up in the park in front of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan featured books issued by various publishing houses for all age groups.
Within the framework of the festival, commemorative panels were also held in honour of the birthday anniversaries of important literary figures such as the 90th anniversary of the birthday of Yusif Samedoğlu, the 125th anniversary of the birthday of Süleyman Rahimov,
the 190th anniversary of the birthday of Seyid Azim Şirvan, the 90th anniversary of the birthday of Fikret Koca, the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Cevad Heyet, the 180th anniversary of the birthday of Abay Kunanbayev, the 150th anniversary of the birthday of Süleyman Sani Ahundov, the 115th anniversary of the birthday of Resul Rıza, the 140th anniversary of the birthday of Üzeyir Hacıbeyli, the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Bahtiyar Vahabzade, and the 120th anniversary of the birthday of of Nihal Atsız.
Poets and authors who took the floor at these sessions discussed the life, work and contributions of the afore-mentioned authors to our literature and recited examples from their own works on: ‘Kyrgyz Literature,’‘Chingis Aitmatov and World Literature,’‘Literary and Cultural Relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye’, ‘Iraqi Literature of Kirkuk’, ‘Uzbek Literature,’‘Hungarian Literature,’, ‘Selected Works of 20th Century Hungarian Poetry’, ‘Kazakh Literature’, ‘South Azerbaijani Literature: New Publications – Translations’, ‘The People's Republic of Azerbaijan’, ‘Turkish Literature’, ‘Turkmen Literature’,‘Magtumguly Firagi and Azerbaijan,’ and ‘The Literature of Northern Cyprus’.
The contemporary literature of kindred countries was discussed in panels where participants also exchanged views on the contributions thereof to the development of common Turkic literature.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the festival, the Representative of Azerbaijan to TURKSOY Mr. Elçin Gafarlı conveyed the greetings of TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev and expressed his gratitude to the Authors’ Union of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan for their precious contribution to the successful organisation of the event.
Mr. Gafarlı handed over medals and plaquettes of TURKSOY to authors and poets who have contributed to contemporary Turkic literature, as well as to representatives of institutions and organisations which contributed to the organisation of the festival.
