On June 16-17, 2023, Baku hosted the international conference "Ancient Turkic Written Culture" dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the deciphering of ancient Turkic script (bitik), jointly organized by the Turkic Academy, the International Foundation for Turkic Culture and Heritage, as well as the National Commissions of Azerbaijan and Turkiye for UNESCO.
The conference, held at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was attended by the President of the Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev, President of the International Foundation for Turkic Culture and Heritage Gunay Efendiyeva, Rector of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Urhan Alekperov, Chairman of the National Commission of the Republic of Turkiye for UNESCO Öcal Oğuz, Secretary General of the National Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan for UNESCO Seymur Fataliyev, Member of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States Hasan Hasanov, Chairman of the Turkish Language Association Osman Mert, President of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Isa Habibbeyli, as well as well-known Turkologists from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkiye, Germany and Poland. The event was designed to unite scientists engaged in the study of ancient Turkic script (bitik) and create a suitable platform for their exchange of views. Speaking at the opening of the conference, the President of the Turkic Academy spoke about important discoveries in the 130-year history of Turkic runology and about the current work in this field. In particular, he noted the active cooperation between the Turkic Academy and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, and said that in the past year (2022), as a result of joint archaeological excavations in the Nomgon Valley, the parties discovered a ritual complex dedicated to Elterish Qutlug-qagan. This was an important scientific discovery. In this regard, Sh. Mustafayev noted that one of the main areas of work of the Turkic Academy was the study of ancient Turkic inscriptions, and said that research in this area would continue. "Last year, the upper part of the inscription, found as a result of excavations in the valley of Nomgon in Mongolia, caused a great resonance in the Turkic world. What makes this new more valuable is the fact that this inscription is currently the oldest one among those Gokturk inscriptions where the name "Turk" is mentioned. This year we will continue to excavate and search for the rest of the inscription," said the Head of the Academy. In her turn, the President of the International Foundation for Turkic Culture and Heritage Gunay Efendiyeva stressed that in 2023 big dates significant for the entire Turkic world would be celebrated, including the 130th anniversary of the deciphering the ancient Turkic script. “Ancient Turkic script occupies an important place in our history, serving as a key to the treasures of our common past. This 130-year journey was accompanied by constant research and discovery. Holding today's conference as part of this journey, we strive to further deepen the understanding of the ancient Turkic script and its manifestations,” said the President of the Foundation. G. Efendiyeva also noted that, being a young international organization, the International Foundation for Turkic Culture and Heritage has implemented many projects and activities aimed at protecting, preserving and promoting Turkic culture and heritage in various directions. Concerning the topics of the conference, she said that the Foundation was planning to organize an International exhibition of petroglyphs, tribal tamgas and ancient Turkic script in the near future. After the plenary session, the conference continued in breakout sessions on a number of topics. In particular, during the session dedicated to Wilhelm Thomsen, who deciphered the ancient Turkic script, the participants expressed their thoughts on his life and work, which greatly contributed to the development of Turkology. In addition, the history and linguistic features of the ancient Turkic script, the areas of its distribution, continuity with modern Turkic languages and connection with other languages of that era (Chinese, Sogdian, Mongolian, etc) were the main topics of the breakout sessions. In addition, the conference covered such topics as ancient Turkic literature and folklore, culture and art, prominent figures and the history of the Turkic states, as well as archaeological excavations. Following the results of the conference, the participants agreed on important decisions on the main directions of studying ancient Turkic written monuments and adopted the final Resolution.
