“Kusein Karasaev Museum Renovation and Landscaping Project”, was opened with a ceremony held in Karakol city of Kyrgyzstan on June 1st 2023.It is commissioned by the Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) in cooperation with sister cities of Karakol from Turkey; Konya Metropolitan, Gebze and Uçhisar (Nevşehir) Municipalities, and in cooperation with Işık-Göl Governorate and Karakol Municipality from Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan Deputy Minister of Culture, Tourism and Information Kayrat Imanaliev, Secretary General of TDBB Fahri Solak, Secretary General of TURKSOY Sultan Raev, Mayor of Gebze Zinnur Büyükgöz, Mayor of Uçhisar (Nevşehir) Osman Süslü, Mayor Karakol Çıngız Bapaev, President of the City Council of Karakol Turat Akimkanov, Gebze Municipality Councilor Ayhan Yılmaz, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Department Head Mustafa Okçu, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Foreign Relations Specialist Ali Güner and local administrators and many guests attended.
At the ceremony, which started with the recitation of the Qur’an on Karasaev’s grave, the guests were informed about Karasaev’s life and the museum.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the museum complex located in the Pristan-Prejevalski neighborhood of the city of Karakol, the host Karakol Mayor Çıngız Bapaev thanked the sister cities in Turkey, Konya Metropolitan, Gebze and Uçhisar Municipalities and TDBB, which contributed to the renovation of the historical and cultural complex. Bapaev expressed that they are ready for more cooperation with TDBB and sister cities.
In his speech, TDBB Secretary General Fahri Solak said, “This project is an important project in many ways. First of all, it is the museum of the linguist Karasaev, which has an important place in the literature of the Turkish World, and secondly, it is an example of a project that brings together different institutions at the international level. We hope that this project will become a symbol of Kyrgyz-Turkish friendship. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the project and attended the opening ceremony.”
Gebze Mayor Zinnur Büyükgöz and Uçhisar (Nevşehir) Mayor Osman Süslü also expressed their satisfaction for being in the sister city Karakol and contributing to the renovation of the Karasaev Museum.
After the speeches, the guests toured the museum. The program ended with mutual gift giving and a photo shoot to commemorate the day.
Who is Kusein Karasaev?
Known as Mahmud of Kashgar in the 20th century in Turkish World literature, Karasaev was born in the Tup district of Issyk-Gol province in the north of Kyrgyzstan. Witnessing the Kyrgyz revolt against the Russian Tsardom in 1916, Karasaev ‘s family was one of thousands of families who took refuge in neighboring China at that time. His family returned to Kyrgyzstan during the disintegration of the Russian Tsardom and the establishment of the Soviet Union. He published the Erkin-Too (Free Mountains) newspaper in the Arabic alphabet for the first time in Kyrgyz on 7 November 1924.
Karasaev, who contributed to the interpretation of the Kyrgyz national Epic of Manas, undertook various duties at the Kyrgyzstan State University during the 1961-1974 period. While working with Soviet Turkologist Prof. Dr. Konstantin Yudahin, he contributed to the publication of the first Kyrgyz-Russian dictionary, which contains 60 thousand words and has been used until today. He has published a total of 30 books and hundreds of articles such as “Writing and Spelling Dictionary”, “Double Words”, “Transliteration Words”, “Commonly Used Words”, “Kamusname: Manas Dictionary”.
Karasaev, who also translated Russian works and Chinese fairy tales into Kyrgyz, was fluent in Turkish, German, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Uyghur, Kazakh, Mongolian, Kalmak, Uzbek and Persian languages. Karasaev passed away on January 31, 1998, at the age of 97.
