As part of the "Turkic World Dialogue Forum," organised by the Directorate of Communications, a roundtable meeting was held on the theme "A Shared Knowledge and Thought Ecosystem for the Turkic World."
The roundtable meeting, held at a hotel in Ankara and moderated by Assoc. Prof. Murat Aslan, a faculty member at Hasan Kalyoncu University and researcher at SETA, brought together Prof. Ulvi Keser, a faculty member at International Final University; Dr Gabor Fodor, Head of the Ottoman Studies Group at the Institute of History, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary; Dr Zhazira Saiyn, a faculty member in the Department of Turkology at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Kazakhstan; Sherzod Fayziev, Director of the International Institute for Central Asia (IICA) in Uzbekistan; Assoc. Prof. Hasibe Şahoğlu, representative of the Beşparmak Think Tank in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC); Dr Karolina Wanda Olszowska, a faculty member in the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy at Jagiellonian University in Poland; and Turkologist Marko Sapina, who participated as speakers.
Keser stated that the discourse of unity and brotherhood among Turkic states needed to be backed by concrete steps, noting that meetings and discussions had failed to translate into action.
Drawing attention to the fact that the TRNC had been facing embargoes, sanctions and isolation for many years, Keser said they expected the Turkic states to demonstrate greater support and solidarity with his country.
Emphasising that cooperation should not be confined to the political level, Keser underlined the importance of organising student and academic staff exchange programmes between universities, strengthening ties in tourism, culture and the arts, and enabling people to get to know one another better through joint events.
Stressing that postal administrations could also help bring societies closer together through even low-cost initiatives, such as joint stamp projects promoting the TRNC, Keser called on the Turkic states to move beyond words and take concrete steps toward solidarity.
Emphasis on the importance of knowledge sharing and student exchanges between the Turkic states and Hungary
Fodor explained that Hungary had also occupied a partially isolated position in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries in the context of Turkish-Hungarian relations and that the idea of Turanism had emerged during this period.
Emphasising that data alone was not sufficient and that it was important to interpret data, turn it into knowledge and share it, Fodor stated, "Great importance is attached to collecting data, but data has no meaning without knowledge. We need to process data in order to understand the motivations behind it and its implications."
Fodor noted that a Hungarian meteorology expert who came to Anatolia about a year and a half after the founding of the Republic of Türkiye helped lay the foundations for meteorological studies in the country, adding that this example underscored the importance of knowledge sharing.
Highlighting the historical role of student exchange programmes in strengthening Turkish-Hungarian relations, Fodor said that approximately 200 Ottoman students who studied in Hungary during the First World War had contributed to the development of academic and cultural ties after returning to their country. He also found it important to continue similar programmes.
Saiyn, for her part, noted that Kazakhstan had made significant progress in digital transformation, explaining that the digitalisation of official procedures and mobile banking services had made it easier for citizens to access public services and carry out financial transactions.
"Let us move from our shared historical memory toward a shared intellectual future and create a unified knowledge ecosystem that brings together our knowledge, languages, and ideas," said Saiyn, urging Turkic governments, universities, cultural institutions, and technology experts to collaborate on the project.
Need for greater intellectual ties
Fayziev remarked that Turkic states' shared history and cultural ties should be converted into a sustainable capability for knowledge production. He emphasised that this should not only involve connecting universities and digital publication archives but also ensuring that cooperative research contributes to public policies, the corporate sector, and education.
Fayziev noted that the Turkic Universities Union comprises 170 universities and anticipates 4,000 academic mobility exchanges through the Orhun Exchange Program by the conclusion of the 2026–2027 academic year, while also highlighting the growing collaboration between think tanks and research centres in Uzbekistan and Türkiye.
In this regard, Fayziev proposed several initiatives, including launching joint research projects in trade and logistics, water security, climate change, and artificial intelligence in 2027; linking academic mobility programmes with joint research initiatives; and establishing a digital knowledge platform. He further added that IICA is prepared to support these initiatives.
An emphasis on the TRNC's capacity to contribute to the Turkic world's shared body of knowledge
Şahoğlu stated that solidarity among Turkic states should also include support for the TRNC, notably in the context of achieving international recognition and equal treatment. He urged the Turkic world to deepen its shared historical and cultural ties through knowledge generation and academic collaboration.
Şahoğlu emphasised that the areas of cooperation should include shared history, language and cultural heritage, international relations, strategic thinking, artificial intelligence, and digital knowledge infrastructure. He also suggested creating networks that would unite researchers, universities, and think tanks, as well as supporting young academics through collaborative research and scholarship initiatives.
Şahoğlu pointed out that the TRNC's strategic location in the Eastern Mediterranean and its expertise in diplomacy, education, intercultural communication, and conflict resolution might add to the body of knowledge shared by the Turkic world. According to him, there are a number of ways to improve cooperation, such as evaluating current capabilities, initiating pilot projects, and setting up sustainable funding and collaborative publication systems.
Olszowska, for her part, noted that Turkology studies in Poland stretch back to 1919, and that interest in learning Azerbaijani, Kazakh, and Turkish has grown in recent years. She highlighted the significance of training experts who are knowledgeable about the languages, cultures, and politics of the region to foster a more profound comprehension of Central Asia and the Turkic world.
Olszowska suggested creating a collaborative network to share knowledge and expertise between experts from Poland and Türkiye. She also emphasised the need to conduct such initiatives in English so that shared history and current issues can be communicated to mass audiences in various nations.
Significance of expressing shared knowledge and experiences in multiple languages
Sapina said that academic circles, particularly Turkology departments, could play an important role in establishing long-term relationships between the Turkic world and other societies, and that Turkologists with knowledge of language, culture, history, and literature could help foster mutual understanding.
Sapina noted that in Croatia, they combine Turkology students with Erasmus students from Türkiye and other Turkic states to foster cultural interaction and language learning, and that such encounters lead to long-term friendships.
Sapina emphasised the significance of translating shared knowledge and experiences into multiple languages so that societies can better understand one another.