President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a message to the opening ceremony of Turkic World Week, held in Baku to mark the 100th anniversary of the First Turkology Congress. President Erdoğan's message was read by Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Gökhan Yazgı.
In his message, President Erdoğan wished the event every success and expressed his hope that it would bring auspicious outcomes for the Turkic world. He noted that, a century ago, intellectuals from different parts of the Turkic world had gathered in Baku with the aim of strengthening a shared consciousness of history and civilisation based on positive sciences.
Pointing out that the scholars who attended the First Turkology Congress demonstrated remarkable vision and resolve through their deliberations and decisions, as well as through academic studies that continue to shed light on the present day, President Erdoğan stated:
"Keeping alive, strengthening and passing on to future generations this ideal bequeathed to us by the Baku Congress is our shared responsibility across every corner of our kindred geography. Indeed, inspired also by the motto of the great thinker İsmail Gaspıralı, 'Unity in language, thought and action,' we continue to deepen and diversify our activities within the framework of Turkic cooperation organisations, which stand as manifestations of our institutional cooperation across the Turkic world.
Emphasising that they continue to regard the vision set forth by the Baku Congress as a guiding beacon throughout this process, President Erdoğan said, "Türkiye's most sincere aspiration is for the Turkic world to embrace our shared history, language and culture and to build the Century of Türkiye with the strength we draw from our ancient past. In this context, we are working with full determination to make the Summit of the Organisation of Turkic States, which we will host in Ankara this autumn after taking over the rotating chairmanship from Azerbaijan, a turning point that will shape our goal of further integrating the Turkic world."
Underscoring that it was no coincidence that this event, like the First Turkology Congress, was held in Baku, President Erdoğan stated:
"As one of the strongest advocates of unity and solidarity in the Turkic world, Azerbaijan continues today to contribute to the common goals of the Turkic states. With these thoughts, I congratulate all the institutions and organisations of dear Azerbaijan that contributed to the organisation of this event. On the occasion of this congress, I commemorate with mercy our forebears who participated in the First Turkology Congress, and I pray that Almighty Allah may preserve our unity, solidarity, and brotherhood forever.