25th anniversary medals awarded to friends of TURKSOY
The award ceremony held in the Headquarters of TURKSOY was hosted by TURKSOY Secretary General, Ambassador Dusen Kasseinov and gathered the Chief Advisor to the President of the Republic of Turkey Yalçın TOPÇU, the Member of the Wisemen's Board of the Turkic Council Prof. Dr. Mustafa ISEN, the President of the Yunus Emre Institute Şeref ATEŞ, the Chairman of the Atatürk Higher Institution of Culture Language and History Prof. Dr. Derya ÖRS, the Director General of SESRIC Ambassador Musa KULAKLIKAYA, the Mayor of Keçiören Mustafa AK, the Deputy Mayor of Etimesgut Alaattin Sonat, the Chairman of the Turkish Institution of History Prof. Dr. Refik TURAN, the Director General of State Theaters of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa KURT, the Director of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Salim TOKAÇ, the Coordinator of the TRT Avaz Channel Sedat SAĞIRKAYA, the Deputy Director of the Presidency of Turks abroad and related communities Sayit YUSUF, the Chairman of the Turkic World Research Foundation Közhan YAZGAN, the Director of the Turkish Cultural Center of Istanbul Dr. Cezmi BAYRAM, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Nevşehir Dr. Halil ULUER, the Chairman of the Eurasian Authors' Union Dr. Yakup ÖMEROĞLU, the Secretary General of the Union of Engineers and Architects of the Turkic World Ilyas Demirci, the State Artist of Azerbaijan Dr. Eflatun NEIMETZADE, Mr. Kemal Sallı from the "Önce Vatan" newspaper and representatives of various institutions and organizations along with journalists.
In the opening speech he delivered at the event, TURKSOY Secretary General stressed that TURKSOY has been successfully carrying out its activities for 25 years thanks to the auspices and support of the Heads of States of Turkic countries, thus strengthening ties between Turkic peoples and introducing their rich cultural heritage to the world.
Ambassador Kasseinov further said: "As a Secretariat General, TURKSOY has assumed the function of coordination among ministries of culture of our member countries and with their contribution we have introduced our rich cultural heritage to the world reaching out from Japan to Argentina. We strongly appreciate your support and accompaniment in every step we took. Indeed, it has played a key role in the success we have achieved. Your valuable support gives us strength and this why we have gathered here today to hand over the 25th-anniversary medal of TURKSOY to you. Let me once again extend my gratitude to you on behalf of TURKSOY for sharing our happiness and pride with us".
The Chief Advisor of the President of the Republic of Turkey Yalçın Topçu who also said a few words stressed the fact that TURKSOY is not only the UNESCO of the Turkic World but also the UNESCO of all Turkic İslamic countries and regions and added: "Activities carried out by TURKSOY introduce Turkic Islamic culture to the whole world."
Mr. Topçu further said that Turkic peoples of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Anatolia are the children of one and the same nation who grew up in different cradles and that since the daw of their existence on earth, they have all brought law and order, compassion and justice to every place they went to. Mr. Topçu who also said that he is closely following up activities carried out by TURKSOY extended his wishes of further success to TURKSOY in its activities to introduce Turkic culture to the world.
The next opening speech was delivered by Prof. Dr. Mustafa Isen who said that cooperation within the Turkic World has reached a level which one could not even have dreamt of in the 60ies or 70ies. Prof. Dr. Isen added that TURKSOY is one of the key institutions of the Turkic World which carry out their activities under the leadership of wise men and eventually achieve positive results on the international arena.
Prof. Dr. Isen went on saying that thanks to its successful management and in cooperation with its partners, TURKSOY has increased its efficiency and become a successful organization with a growing influence on a global scale.
The Director of the Yunus Emre Institute Şeref Ateş who also delivered a speech at the event stressed that the Yunus Emre Institute attaches particular importance to activities carried out by TURKSOY on an international level and that it is therefore happy to contribute to these. Mr. Ateş further said that it is thanks to the diplomatic experience of Secretary General Kasseinov and his ability to gather all institutions of the Turkic World that the culture and art of the Turkic World are being further introduced to the world with such a success.
The Mayor of Keçiören Mustafa Ak said that events carried out with the contribution of countries of the Turkic World play a key role in the rapprochement of kindred peoples and that this strengthens the unity of peoples sharing a common culture. Mr. Ak further said: "If we have served the Turkic World and contributed to the promotion of its culture, we are all the more so happy."
Other opening speeches were delivered by the Chairman of the Atatürk Higher Institution of Culture Language and History Prof. Dr. Derya ÖRS and the Chairman of the Turkish Institution of History Prof. Dr. Refik TURAN.
The opening speeches were followed by the award ceremony in which TURKSOY Secretary General Ambassador Kasseinov extended the 25th Anniversary medals of TURKSOY to leaders and representatives of key institutions and organizations in recognition of their valuable support to its activities.
The event ended with a family photograph taken as a remembrance of the day. Following the event, participants were offered Uzbek Rice.