― 27 апреля 2025 г.

Second Culture Forum of the Turkic World held in Khiva

Cultural figures, scholars, and artists from the Turkic World gathered in Uzbekistan for the 2nd Culture Forum of the Turkic World. The event, hosted by the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan and held in Khiva,  the Cultural Capital the Turkic World  was inaugurated by the Minister of Culture of Uzbekistan Ozodbek Nazarbekov, the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Adil Kerimli, the Deputy Minister of Culture of Kyrgyzstan Gulbara Abdykalykova, TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev, TURKPA Secretary General Mehmet Süreyya Er, the President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Aktoty Raimkulova, and the President of the Turkic Academy Şahin Mustafayev.

In the speech  he delivered at the opening ceremony, Secretary General Sultan Raev emphasized the importance of the cultural heritage and the strong potential of cooperation of the Turkic World, stressing that Turkic culture is a universal source of hope for our common heritage and future. Mr. Raev also provided information about recent activities of TURKSOY and noted the following:

“I am deeply honored and delighted to be here with you in Uzbekistan, the cradle of science and culture of the Turkic World, with its rich history, civilization, and ancient intellectual heritage. The 1st Culture Forum of the Turkic World, which we held in Shusha, the pearl of Karabakh, in 2023, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev, once again demonstrated the power of our common culture and the potential of our cooperation. Today, taking the second step of this valuable forum under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan is the most beautiful demonstration of the sustainability and stability of this cultural cooperation. 

On this occasion, I would like to express my gratitude to the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Mr. Adil Kerimli, who launched this initiative as well as to our host, the esteemed Minister Mr. Ozodbek Nazarbekov, and to the esteemed members of the Permanent Council of TURKSOY who decided that the Forum should be held in a member country of TURKSOY every year. At TURKSOY, we have always regarded it as our fundamental duty to preserve the shared identity of the Turkic World through our art, language, traditions, and customs in the activities we have carried out for over 30 years. During my tenure as Secretary General, I believe we have made meaningful changes in a short period of time. In this context, we have launched many new brand events. 

Hence, with the support of our ministries, we successfully institutionalized the Korkut Ata Film Festival of the Turkic World, which was launched in recent years to enhance cooperation in the field of Turkic World cinema and encourage the production of films that reflect our common cultural codes. Our joint productions have been one of the most important outcomes of this process. Last year, for the first time, the film Magtumguly Fragi, produced jointly by Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, was screened in many places worldwide, including the United States. We held a film festival in Turkmenistan for the first time. Now, our film Nasreddin Hoja is counting down the days. Once again, in cooperation with our ministries, we are launching a special cooperation project in the field of animation. 

Secondly, we are organizing commemorative years we have declared to honor the great personalities of the Turkic World whom we introduce to future generations on an increasingly broader scale each year. This year, we have many special events to keep alive the legacy left behind by Nurgiza Tilendiyev and Bahar Vahabzade. Within this framework, we are conducting a multi-dimensional process of cultural commemoration  with scientific meetings, concerts, and publications. 

Thirdly, as you know, our  initiative to annually declare a Cultural Capital of the Turkic World  is becoming more and more comprehensive every year. After Shusha in 2023 and Anev  in 2024, Aktau will host numerous international events throughout 2025. Opening events of  Aktau held a few weeks ago were attended by 120,000 people and have undoubtedly raised the bar of our success. In this process, we continue to pursue our goal to become an organization providing more comprehensive contributions to cities declared as cultural capitals. 

Fourthly, in order to strengthen TURKSOY's institutional capacity and improve the quality of our work, we have established specialized professional committees and associations in the fields of culture and arts. Through these committees, we are facilitating the emergence of new projects and cooperation activities in various fields ranging from theater to music and from museology to literatüre amongst others. Hence, I would like to once again invite you to further contribute to this process on the occasion of our meeting today."

Speaking at the opening of the forum, Secretary General Raev also reminded of the fact that Uzbekistan is a center of science and culture which has pioneered Turkic-Islamic civilization with many great figures from Ali Sher Navoi  to Imam Maturidi, and stated that it is a common responsibility to carry this ancient heritage into the future.

Secretary General Sultan Raev concluded his remarks by quoting the famous Kazakh poet Ulugbek Esdevletov: “As long as the Turkish flag flies in the sky, we will never kneel before any enemy. We are Turks, we are Turks, we are Turks.”

High-level attendance at the 2nd Culture Forum of the Turkic World

The opening session of the 2nd Culture Forum of the Turkic World gathered Prof. Dr. Cüneyt Erenoğlu, Rector of the Çanakkale March 18th University (Türkiye), Prof. Dr. Necdet Budak, Rector of Ege University (Türkiye), Prof. Dr. Erhan Özden, Rector of the Ankara University of Music and Fine Arts (Türkiye) and Erkin Yılmaz, Director General of Copyright at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Türkiye), MESAM Vice President Selim Çaldıran, Prof. Dr. Arman Judebayev, Rector of the Kazakh National Academy of Arts (Kazakhstan), Prof. Dr. Jabbor Eshonqulov, Director of the Alisher Navoiy State Literature Museum of Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan), Prof. Dr. Sahib Pashazade, Director of the Mugam Center of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan), Dr. Eunkyung Oh, Director of the Eurasian Research Institute  of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Aziz Biimyrza Uulu, President of the Manas Academy of Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyzstan) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rifat Fattakhov, Director of the Tatar Culture Society Fund of Tatarstan (Russian Federation).

Within the framework of the forum, participants presented their papers in various thematic sessions held  throughout the day on current issues such as the common principles of Turkic states in the fields of culture and art in the modern world and the digitalization of cultural heritage. The sessions were attended by a wide range of participants from the Turkic World. 

Throughout the forum, master classes were given by experts from different countries, and cooperation protocols as well as  memorandums of understanding were signed between international organizations and universities.