To commemorate the 130th anniversary of the birth of a Hungarian professor of Turcology and a linguist, Gyula Németh, the quarterly publication of the International Turkish Cultural Organization (TURKSOY) dedicated twenty pages to the career of the world-famous scholar who was born in Karcag. The publication reports on series of events held in Ankara and Hungary in memory of the scholar, including a visit to Hungary by Dusen Kasseinov, the Secretary General of TURKSOY.
TURKSOY carries out activities to strengthen the ties of brotherhood and solidarity among Turkic peoples with a view to transmitting their common cultural heritage to future generations and promoting it around the world. TURKSOY was established in 1993 in Kazakhstan by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey, and currently gathers fourteen nations and has its headquarters in Ankara. On the 130th anniversary of his birthday the famous Hungarian turcologist Gyula Németh was commemorated in an online conference of TURKSOY. In a speech delivered on the occasion Dusen Kasseinov, the former Minister of Cultural Heritage of Kazakhstan, drew attention to the fact that the great scholar of Hungary – who is regarded as a pioneer of Turcology – must be introduced to young generations of the Turkic World. Kasseinov further added that Németh’s achievement is considered a cornerstone of Turcology and his work on “The Grammar of Turkic Language” has made an unprecedented contribution to Turcology. Furthermore, he has also educated many students and played a pioneer role for Turkic societies with his strong contribution to the development of Turkic peoples in terms of science, culture, spiritual values and more specifically concerning language. Speakers at the conference added that after World War I the issue of language became a national issue in Turkey, and Gyula Németh’s 1916 book “Türkische Grammatik”, published in Berlin, remained one of the basic works for learning Turkish. The language book for German and Austro-Hungarian soldiers serving in the Ottoman Empire later became the basis for the language renewal process and at the end of 1928 the Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin alphabet. Németh’s book also provided an important clue for innovation in other areas of language, such as purification of the Turkish language from foreign words and to strengthen the relationship with the vernacular and to eliminate the differences between spoken and written languages.
This year’s first issue of TURKSOY journal richly illustrated with pictures introduces Dusen Kasseinov’s visit to Hungary. Within the framework of his visit the Secretary General paid a visit to Karcag, the hometown of Gyula Németh. His program included visits to the memorial sites related to the life of the linguist and turcologist, where he met with important players in the political and cultural life of the city. During the official visit, D. Kasseinov was welcomed in the Hungarian Parliament by Sándor Lezsák, the Vice-President of the Hungarian National Assembly.
