The 65th anniversary meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference (PIAC) dedicated to the study of history and culture, linguistics and ethnology of related peoples of the Altai language family has started on July 31, 2023 in the capital of Kazakhstan with the support of the Turkic Academy.
The event, which takes place at Nazarbayev University, is being attended by about 40 Altaic scientists from the member countries of the Organization of Turkic States, as well as Germany, France, Hungary, Russia, China, Mongolia, Korea and Japan. President of the Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev, Secretary General of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference (PIAC) Oliver Korff, President of the 65th meeting of PIAC Uli Schamiloglu, Acting Rector of Nazarbayev University Loretta O'Donnell, Acting Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Humanities of Nazarbayev University Anton Desyatnikov, President of the 36th meeting of PIAC Yerden Kazhybek delivered their welcoming speeches at the opening ceremony. In his speech, the Head of the Turkic Academy outlined the importance of holding such events, emphasizing that Altai has sacred significance for the Turkic peoples as well. "The Turkic peoples living on the vast territory of Eurasia believe that Altai is their ancient homeland and the land of their origin. From this point of view, Turkology is an integral part of Altaistic studies, and the activities of the Turkic Academy, which was established to conduct research on Turkic languages, history, literature and culture, fall within the scope of Altaistics. On the other hand, it is difficult to separate Turkology from other components of Altaistic studies, since historically the Altaic peoples have been interconnected. In this regard, I hope to continue cooperation with the participants of the PIAC meeting. The Turkic Academy will continue to support the Altaistic researches," Sh. Mustafayev said. As part of the event, the former Secretary General of PIAC, Professor Barbara Kellner-Heinkele was awarded the anniversary medal of PIAC, for her contribution to the development of Altaistic studies. The conference will last three days, the official closing ceremony will take place on August 3, 2023, where the participants will sum up the results and adopt the resolution. It is worth noting that the Permanent International Altaistic Conference (PIAC) was founded on September 4, 1957 in Munich at the 24th International Congress of Orientalists. PIAC has become a traditional platform where major orientalists share their experience, research results and opinions.
