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The 20th Turkish History Congress takes place Oct. 26-30 at the Ataturk Culture, Language and History High Institution campus in Ankara, the capital in central Türkiye. Around 300 academics from 30 countries will present papers, Turkish Historical Society President Prof. Haluk Selvi told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Selvi said preparations began about two years ago. The society invited academics from Türkiye and abroad and set the congress themes. After an academic screening process, the society accepted about 230 papers, to be presented by 300 academics.
The papers cover Turkish history from the earliest periods to the present across Central Asia, the Balkans, and from Crimea in the north to Qatar in the south. The society plans to publish the papers as an academic volume, as it has done with previous congresses.
The first Turkish History Congress was held in 1932 under the patronage of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The second congress, held Sept. 20-25, 1937, at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace, drew many foreign scholars and gained an international dimension, according to Selvi. The society is 95 years old.
Selvi said the congress aims to bring lesser-known aspects of Turkish history to light and to present the contributions of Turks to humanity and civilization. He said the society was founded to respond to claims made over the past 200 to 300 years that Turks were a second-class nation. According to Selvi, the congress also seeks new perspectives on Ottoman and Seljuk history and on Western and European approaches to history.
Prof. Feridun Emecen, an Ottoman history specialist, will deliver the opening lecture. A special panel on Ataturk and the Republic will take place Oct. 29, Republic Day.
A second special panel examines the roles, responsibilities and activities of historical institutions and institutes in writing Turkish history. Academics from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Italy will speak. Selvi said the session, held under the Organization of Turkic States (OTC), will address challenges in writing a shared history of the Turkic world and propose academic solutions.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and Ataturk Culture, Language and History High Institution President Prof. Derya Ors organized the congress with their support.
Three exhibitions open alongside the sessions. One presents photographs and documents from the society’s first excavations in Anatolia. The second is the “National Struggle History” (Milli Mucadele Tarihi) exhibition. The “Turkish History Congresses” (Turk Tarih Kongreleri) exhibition features correspondence, images, sample papers, and published proceedings books from 1932 onward.
Meetings take place in five halls. The opening day includes a concert of Turkic world music. Selvi invited history enthusiasts, students and international guests to attend.
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