“Timurid Renaissance and Turkic Languages/From Chaghatai to Modern Turkish”

A seminar entitled “Timurid Renaissance and Turkic Languages/From Chaghatai to Modern Turkish” was organized at ULB.

Derya SOYSAL

The seminar titled "Timurid Renaissance and Turkic Languages / From Chagatai to Modern Turkish," organized at the Free University of Brussels on April 9, 2025, attracted great interest. This seminar was held to celebrate the 689th anniversary.

The seminar, specially prepared by Dr. Lebriz Sönmez, professor of Turkish at the Free University of Brussels, and Derya Soysal, history teacher and Central Asia specialist, drew significant attention.

Among the participants were Mehmet Özgür Çakar, acting chargé d'affaires and first counselor of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Brussels, Onur Sevim, consul general of Brussels, Zeynep Yılmaz, counselor, Işıl Yaman Özbek, chief secretary of the embassy, Hümeyra Altuntaş Kıran, education counselor, Mehmet Kayış, commercial counselor, Aidit Erkin, ambassador of Kyrgyzstan in Brussels, Nurlan Suerkulov, Kyrgyz diplomat, Margulan Baimukhan, ambassador of Kazakhstan in Brussels, Rakhat Nurgaliyev, Kazakh diplomat, Maral Rahymova, Turkmen diplomat, Subhan Rahimli, Azerbaijani diplomat, Emin Rustamov, Azerbaijani diplomat, Nagy Gabriella, Hungarian diplomat, Tumurbat Bazarragchaa, Mongolian diplomat.

During the seminar, Golibjon Abdukarimov, senior advisor of the Embassy of Uzbekistan, delivered an opening speech. After sharing his thoughts on the main theme of the seminar, he thanked the organizers and participants of this significant event.

Next, Mehmet Özgür Çakar, first counselor of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Brussels, took the floor and stated: "In the 14th and 15th centuries, under the leadership of the Timurid State, there was an advancement in science, arts, and literature in Central Asia, coinciding with the peak of Chagatai Turkish. The works written under the leadership of Ali Şir Nevai strengthened the position of Turkish as an intellectual language, transforming the language of the people into the language of science and art."

Derya Soysal, history teacher and Central Asia specialist, explained during her presentation what the Timurid Renaissance means, its historical, social, and communal development, the level of civilization reached in the Turkic world, and the dimensions of the legacy left. She emphasized Ulug Beg and his contributions to Timurid science. Derya Soysal finally pointed out that Timurid architecture is reflected in India (with the Taj Mahal), in Bursa with the Green Mosque, and in Russia with the Saint Petersburg Mosque.

Dr. Lebriz Sönmez, professor of Turkish at the Free University of Brussels, explained the process of the evolution from Chagatai to modern Turkish, illustrating her point with visual examples. Dr. Lebriz Sönmez discussed the different families of Turkic languages. She introduced and developed the evolution of Turkic languages from Proto-Turkic to modern Turkish. She focused on Alisher Navoiy, the most famous poet of the Chagatai language. Finally, she concluded her speech by highlighting that in Turkey, since the language policies implemented by Atatürk, the country has experienced linguistic development reflected in the Organization of Turkic States. She added by saying, "The Turkish Language Union is an important idea aimed at bringing the Turkic world together and strengthening cultural ties. Building bridges between different dialects and accents means creating a common language consciousness while preserving cultural richness. This ideal aims to bring the Turkic world together both linguistically and culturally."