«The Role of Ancient Turkestan in the History of Turkic Peoples»

«The Role of Ancient Turkestan in the History of Turkic Peoples» 15.12.2023 10:05

At the summit of the Organization of Turkic States held in Samarkand on 11 November 2022, on the initiative of our President, 2023 was declared the "Year of the Rise of Turkish Civilization". The concept of Uzbekistan's chairmanship in the Organization of Turkic States and the schedule of events for the current year were also adopted, according to which it was decided to hold an international conference on "The Role of Turkestan in the History of Turkic Peoples".

In this regard, on December 5-6 this year, the Geographical Council of Turkic States together with the Organization of Turkic States and the University of Journalism and Mass Communications of Uzbekistan held an international conference on "The Role of Turkestan in the History of Turkic Peoples" under the motto of Imam Al-Bukhari "There is no salvation but science".

The main purpose of the organized international conference is to further study the history of Turkic peoples that was formed thousands of years ago, to comprehend their political, economic, cultural and geographical past, to write a common history based on their national and cultural identity, to create resources that serve the idea of unity and brotherhood for the future generation.

Invited scientists from Turkey, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries, more than forty representatives of higher educational institutions, as well as Organizations of Turkic States and expert communities took part in the conference with reports.

The Conference was opened by Secretary General of the Geographical Council of Turkic States, PhD - Oybek Norinbaev. In his speech he noted that holding the Astana Summit of the Organization of Turkic States on November 3, 2023 under the slogan "Turkish Era" became a unique logical continuation of the Samarkand Summit and it is not for nothing that our esteemed President started his speech at the Summit with the call of our great ancestor, one of the founders of the ancient Turkic state Bilga-Hakan: "Revive, my Turkic people, know yourself to rise again.

In addition, the Secretary General emphasized that in the Astana Declaration adopted during the Summit, the Heads of State welcomed the holding of conferences and forums aimed at glorifying Turkish statehood and history and the rich cultural heritage of the Turkic peoples. In this sense, the Secretary General continued, today's event serves to identify and explore objective sources serving the idea of unity and brotherhood based on mutual understanding of the common history of the Turkic peoples, national and cultural identity, and bring them to the future generation. We hope that remembering what they have built will encourage them to strengthen their sense of pride. In addition, he noted that such platforms, in which advanced scholars from Turkic countries participate, allow experts and historians to get to know each other better, exchange information and experience, and agree on joint projects that can be realized in the future.

In accordance with these lofty goals, another important step was taken this year: the establishment of the Geographical Council of Turkic States on the initiative of the Geographical Society of Uzbekistan. The goals and objectives of this council are to expand ties between peoples in the spirit of mutual brotherhood, solidarity and good-neighbourliness within these borders, which are considered to be our common space, to popularize science, develop geography and geotourism to holy places and sites of our common history among our peoples and especially among young people.

The Secretary General concluded his speech by inviting all participants to actively participate in the conference on the Karakhanids, which is planned to be organized in cooperation with the Organization of Turkic States in February-March 2024.

According to the practical result of the international conference it was agreed that the scientific articles of the speakers and participants will be jointly published in a separate collection.

In addition, within the framework of the conference, the Geographical Council of Turkic States in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Organization of Turkic States and the University of Journalism and Mass Communications of Uzbekistan with the participation of a number of scientists of Turkic states organized a "Round Table" on the topics devoted to the development of the "Charter of the Turkic World" and "Tabarruk Ziyorat".

This round table was also held with a view to elaborating proposals on the preparation of the draft "Charter of the Turkish World", put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in the framework of the Astana summit this year.

At this meeting, Oybek Norinbaev, Secretary General of the Geographical Council of Turkic States - Doctor of Philosophy in Economic Sciences, opened the discussion and asked the participants to share their suggestions and experiences.

The discussion centered on the words of our esteemed President, who emphasized the importance of preparing a "Turkish Peace Charter" with the participation of advanced scholars and experts, and it was agreed to develop practical proposals.

In addition, Sunnat Uvraimov, member of the Geographical Council of Turkic States, doctoral student of the Cartography Department of the National University of Uzbekistan, gave a lecture on "Creation of interactive web maps of Islamic cultural heritage sites" on the example of Uzbekistan.

The interactive web-map was launched in test mode, and the participants of the round table were presented its use and interface appearance. In turn, scientists from twin countries positively evaluated this program and made suggestions for its further improvement.

The events that took place will serve to understand the common history of the Turkic peoples, to identify and study objective sources serving the idea of unity and brotherhood on the basis of national and cultural identity, to develop appropriate proposals and pass them on to the next generation.