Int'l conference on 950th anniversary of Diwan Lughat al-Turk to be held in UNESCO headquarters

The Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation will hold an International Conference titled "Mapping the World in Lexicography: on the 950th anniversary of Diwan Lughat al-Turk," Azernews reports.

The international conference will take place at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on December 13.

The 950th anniversary of the famous work by Mahmud Kashgari, Diwan Lughat al-Turk- one of the most valuable books in the Turkic world-will be celebrated within UNESCO. "Diwan Lughat at-Turk" is the first encyclopedic dictionary of Turkic languages, included in the list of anniversaries that UNESCO will mark in 2024-2025.

According to information preserved in the Istanbul National Library and recorded on the last page of the only existing copy, M. Kashgari began writing this masterpiece in 1072 and completed it two years later. Various sources mention that he intended to present this work to the Turkish ruler of the time, Sultan Muhammad Alp Arslan. However, due to the martyr's death of the ruler, the work was presented to the Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, Muhammad al-Muqtadi Bi-Amrillah, who ruled in Baghdad from 1075 to 1095.

The work is considered the first dictionary of the Turkic language family, written by M. Kashgari to teach the Turkic language to Arabs and to demonstrate that it is richer than Arabic. During the writing of this work, M. Kashgari visited various Turkic regions of the 11th century and based his work on the linguistic materials he gathered.

In addition to being a dictionary, it also serves as a grammatical compendium that reflects the characteristics of the 11th-century Turkic language, shedding light on phonetic and morphological knowledge. Furthermore, the work provides information about Turkic surnames, individuals, and geographical names and contains rich information about Turkic history, geography, mythology, folklore, and oral literature. It is also notable as an encyclopedic work that offers insights into the medicine and healing methods of that time.

During the conference, scholars, researchers, and representatives from state and international organizations from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkiye, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Hungary, and other countries will discuss the historical, linguistic, and cultural significance of Diwan Lughat al-Turk.