The introductory meeting of ‘Atlas Tartarica’ book, which was translated into Turkish, cooperatively by Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB), Institute of Tatarstan History and Republic of Turkey Consulate General of Kazan with the contribution of Kastamonu Entegre Inc., was conducted in Dolmabahçe Art Gallery on 10 October 2017, Tuesday.
The introductory meeting was attended by Deputy President of TDBB and Mayor of Zeytinburnu Murat Aydın, Member of TDBB Administrative Board and Mayor of Selçuklu Uğur İbrahim Altay, Istanbul Consul General of Russia Andrey Podelyshev, President of Institute of Tatarstan History Rafael Hakimov, Secretary General of TDBB Fahri Solak, Kazan Consul General of Turkey Turhan Dilmaç, Istanbul Consul General of Kyrgyzstan Erkin Sopokov, members of Tatarstan Science Academy and Ministry of Education, Representative of Tatarstan in Turkey Ayrat Gataullin, Former Deputy Director General of TRT Zeynel Koç, Prof. İlber Ortaylı, translator of the book Assoc.Prof. İlyas Kemaloğlu, directors of Kastamonu Entegre Inc., academicians, representatives of Tatar organizations and many other guests.
Talking at the meeting, Deputy President of TDBB and also Mayor of Zeytinburnu Murat Aydın said that the project was very meaningful. He stated that he examined the book and added, “The book is so satisfying. I thank to all institutions who contributed the project. Every time you read the book, you will have the opportunity to know Tatars, Tatarstan and Asia better. I congratulate all the contributors.”
Mentioning that Tatarstan has a special position, Kazan Consul General of Turkey Turhan Dilmaç said, “10 big Turkish companies are already active in Tatarstan. We are talking about an investment of 2 billion dollars. It is a place where our economic relations have developed most. There are many features that make Turks and Tatars come together and become brothers. You can’t imagine when a Tatar will come out. For instance you can see him as an important person in Safahat by Mehmet Akif Ersoy. Or you can see that most of the advisors of Atatürk in War of Independence are Tatars.” Dilmaç also indicated that the first parts of the book include the common history of Turkish history. Afterwards he said that he shared his opinion with President of Institute of Tatarstan History Rafael Hakimov about translating the work into Turkish and had a positive reply, and added that TDBB took on the responsibility of printing the project.
On the other hand President of Institute of Tatarstan History Rafael Hakimov underlined the fact that Tatar history is unique and endless and added, “Even we, as Tatars, do not know most of the aspects of this history. As a result our aim is to understand this history and introduce it to the world. We want to do it on the right way. We are very happy to have this work translated into Turkish and published. This is the common history of Turkish communities. We did our best to show the historical developments and changes in Eurasia via maps. This is a really great and hard work. The book has been written in an understandable way.”
As for Fahri Solak, he stated that as TDBB they show great efforts to carry out projects that help to maintain and introduce the common cultural heritage of Turkish history. Solak also added, “We continue our activities in a certain way to develop cooperation between local governments, as our main goal. TDBB has over 1.100 member municipalities from 28 different countries. Tatarstan is one of the countries that we work closely. We are very happy to crown our cooperation with local governments with such a symbolic project. Besides, a group of delegation from Tatarstan will come for an information and experience sharing program in November. In this context, I thank to all Tatar friends who made close cooperation with us concerning the organization of cultural activities and projects on local governments.”
Solak said, “Atlas Tartarica, as the reason why we meet here today, is a very precious project that deals with Tatar-Turk common history, common values and common culture both with maps, visual materials and with related articles. No doubt that all effective and good works come into life with the contributions of many people. I congratulate Institute of Tatar History who showed great efforts for the creation of this work and thank them for their close cooperation for introducing this important work in Turkish by having TDBB as a cooperation institution. In addition, I thank Kazan Consul General of Turkey Turhan Dilmaç, directors of Kastamonu Entegre Inc. and İlyas Kemalov for their contribution of the translation of this book.”
The meeting ended with giving Tartarica to the participants as present, presentation of Thanking Plaques and taking group photo.
About Atlas Tartarica
The directing of the book’s translation, whose scientific responsibility was taken on by Rafail Hakimov, was made by Faculty Member of Marmara University Fahri Solak, PhD. The book was translated into Turkish by Faculty Member of Mimar Sinan University Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlyas Kemaloğlu.
Atlas Tartarica carries the feature of being the first publication which deals with the history and geography of Tatarstan Republic and Tatar community’s historiography. In the work the ethnic origins of Tatars, the states they established, their governors, economy, culture and religion and their condition in Russia are approached in detail.
Besides in the book there is also important information on the historical development of Eurasian cultures, the migratory routes of Turkish states, khanates and tribes and what they experienced during this migration and which weapons they used.
The prestige size book which has great importance for both Turkish and Tatar history is almost 678 pages.
11.10.2017
