First All-Union Turkological Congress

The First All-Union Turkological Congress (Первый Всесоюзный тюркологический съезд; Birinci Türkoloji Qurultay) took place in Baku from February 26 to March 6, 1926, within the territory of the Soviet Union. The congress focused on the history, literature, language, alphabet, ethnography, and culture of the Turkic peoples residing in the Soviet territory. It resulted in the adoption of several important decisions for the near future. The scientific and methodological principles for the transition to the Latin script were thoroughly discussed and prepared during the congress.

The First Turkology Congress has entered history as one of the most significant events in the cultural life of Turkic peoples, including the Azerbaijani people, in the 20th century. The congress brought together not only Turkic peoples residing in the Soviet Union but also foreign guests, with a total of 131 participants, including scholars, linguists, historians, poets, writers, and other prominent intellectuals. The congress was a crucial step in the cultural integration of Turkic peoples. It laid the foundation for addressing and preparing a series of important issues for the diverse Turkic peoples living in a vast geographical area. Its exceptional significance lies in the formulation, elaboration, and implementation of various significant matters.

The congress sessions were chaired by Samad Aghamalioglu, the head of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR. The Presidium of the congress included Samad Aghamalioglu, Ruhulla Akhundov from Azerbaijan, Habib Jabiyev, the orientalist-historian academic Vasili Bartold, academic Sergei Oldenburg, the representative of European scholars Professor F.F. Mensel, Naqovitsin from the People's Commissariat of Public Education of the RSFSR, Professor Bekir Çobanzade, Professor Aleksandr Samoyloviç, Ahmed Baitursynov from Kazakhstan, Isidor Barakhov from Yakutia, Ilya Borozdin and M. Pavlovich from the Oriental Studies Association, Galimcan İbrahimov from Tatarstan, İdelguzin from Bashkortostan, Mehmet Fuat Kopruluzade from Turkey, Jalaleddin Gorkhmazov from Dagestan, Nahamov from Uzbekistan, Tunstanov from Karakalpakstan, Berdiyev from Turkmenistan, Osman Nuri Akchokraklı from Crimea, and Umar Aliyev from Northern Caucasus were elected. Ali bey Huseynzade, Bang, Mustafa Guliyev, academic Nikolay Marr, Anatoli Lunacharsky, and Tomsen became honorary members of the Presidium of the Congress.

Over 100 of the participants were later accused of pan-Turkism and faced repression. A majority were imprisoned or killed. The significant outcome of the congress, the transition of Turkic peoples to the Latin script, was abolished in 1939, and a mass switch to the Cyrillic alphabet was implemented for the Turkic peoples residing in the Soviet Union.

History
After Azerbaijan was annexed by Russia, the issue of alphabet reform in the Near East was initially raised by the prominent Azerbaijani intellectual and great educator Mirza Fatali Akhundzade. However, his efforts in this direction did not yield results. In subsequent periods, Ismail Gasprali, Uzeyir Hajibeyli, Jalil Mammadguluzade, Mammad agha Shahtakhtinski, Firidun bey Kocherli, Veli Khuluflu, and Huseyn Javid also engaged in fruitful activities in this direction. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic also considered alphabet reform, but its 23-month "life" did not allow for addressing this crucial issue.

After Azerbaijan was Sovietized, this issue became even more relevant. As early as 1922, under the chairmanship of N. Narimanov, a "Transition to the Latin Alphabet" committee was established in Baku. This process received special attention not only from Baku scholars but also from Turkologists working in other scientific centers of the Soviet Union at that time. Already in 1922, under the leadership of Jalil Mammadguluzade, the newspaper "Yeni Yol" was published using the Latin alphabet. In the same year, the "New Turkic Alphabet" committee was created, with Samed Agamalioglu, the chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR, leading it. Even on October 20, 1923, the Azerbaijani government issued a decision to adopt the New Turkic Alphabet as the state alphabet. However, both the Latin script and the Arabic script were still in use.

Preparation for the congress
In August 1925, the All-Union Turkology Congress was convened by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union. The issue of convening the congress had been submitted to the Soviet leadership by the Azerbaijan SSR government a year earlier. The necessity of resolving issues related to the transition to the Latin alphabet had been raised six months before the Soviet government's decision to convene the Turkology Congress, during the 1st Azerbaijani Local Oriental Studies Congress and at the sessions of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and the Union of Orientalists of the Soviet Union.

The preparation for the convening of the Congress was organized by the organizing commission, established by the decision of the Soviet People's Commissars of the USSR. The commission included Samad Aghamalioglu (chairman), M. Pavloviç, Habib Jabiyev, Vasili Bartold, Aleksandr Samoyloviç, Jalaleddin Gorkhmazov, G. Broydo, Tyuryakulov, Zifeld, Fitred, Bekir Çobanzadə, Ashmarin, Odabash, Novshirvano, Ahmet Baytursunov, and Yusufzade.

The organizing commission published the "Xəbərlər" (News) to illuminate all the work done in preparation for the All-Union Turkology Congress.

Proceedings of the congress
In February 1926, the First Turkology Congress commenced its activities at the Ismailiyya Palace in Baku. The Congress saw the participation of 131 delegates, including 20 representatives from the international scientific community, with a total of 17 sessions held. Thirty-eight presentations were delivered on the language, history, ethnogenesis, ethnography, literature, and culture of Turks and the broader Turkic world. Samad Aghamalioglu, the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR, presided over the Congress, and the following individuals were elected to the Congress's Presidium: Samad Aghamalioglu, Ruhulla Akhundov, Habib Jabiyev, the renowned orientalist-historian academician Vasili Bartold, academician Sergei Oldenburg, the representative of European scholars Professor F.F. Mensel, Naqovitsin from the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR, Professor Bekir Çobanzade, Professor Aleksandr Samoyloviç, Ahmet Baytursunov from Kazakhstan, Isidor Barahov from Yakutia, Borozdin and Pavloviç from the Oriental Studies Association, Galimcan İbrahimov from Tatarstan, İdelquzin from Bashkortostan, Mehmet Fuat Kopruluzade from Turkey, Jalaleddin Gorkhmazov from Dagestan, Shakircan Rahim from Uzbekistan, Tunstanov from Karakalpakstan, Berdiyev from Turkmenistan, Osman Nuri Akchokraklı from Crimea, and Aliyev Umar from the North Caucasus. Additionally, representatives from Azerbaijan and other republics such as Ali bey Huseynzade, Banq, Mustafa Guliyev, Academician Nikolay Marr, Anatoly Lunacharsky, and Tomsen were chosen as honorary members of the Congress's Presidium.

At the congress, Gazanfar Musabeyov, the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, delivered a congratulatory speech, welcoming the participants of the Congress. The Congress also featured events in honor of the renowned Turkologists Radloff and Ismayıl bey Gaspıralı. The participation of distinguished Turkologists and orientalists such as Bartold, Kopruluzade, A.Huseynzade, Krımski, Poppe, Ashmarin highlighted its significant importance and prestige.

Lectures
During the course of the Congress, numerous scholarly presentations were delivered, some of which are particularly noteworthy. Notable presentations included V.V.Bartold's "The Contemporary State of the History and Study Tasks of Turkic Peoples," S.F.Oldenburq's "Methods of Ethnographic Studies Among Turkic Peoples," A.A.Müller's "On the Art of Descriptive Representations among Turkic Peoples," F.Kopruluzade's "The Development of Literary Languages among Turkic Peoples," A.N.Samoyloviç's "The Contemporary State and Future Tasks of Studying Turkic Languages," B.Çobanzade's "On the Close Kinship of Turkic Dialects," H.Zeynallı's "On the Scientific Terminology System in Turkic Languages," S.Y.Malov's "The Contemporary State and Perspectives of Studying Ancient Turkic Languages," Ferhad Aghazade's "Orthography in Turkic Languages," N.F.Yakovlev's "Problems of Establishing an Alphabet System Related to the Social and Cultural Conditions of Turkic Nations," C.Memmedzade's "On the Alphabet Systems of Turkic Peoples," Kemanov's "Fundamentals of the Methodology of Teaching Turkic Languages," N.N.Poppe's "The Historical and Contemporary State of the Issue of Mutual Kinship of Turkic Languages with Altaic Languages," H.Şərəf's "Issues of Applying Arabic and Latin Script Systems for Turkic-Tatar Peoples," T.Mensel's "Results and Perspectives of Studying Balkan Turkic Literature," and many others. These presentations added further depth and richness to the proceedings of the Congress.

During the Congress, the theoretical perspective of the remarkable phonetics scholar Lev Shcherba's presentation on "The Basic Principles of Orthography and Their Social Significance" was particularly noteworthy. Interestingly, the presentation by Armenian linguist R.Y.Acharyan on the topic of "Mutual Influence of Turkic and Armenian Languages" was centered around explaining the influence of the Turkic language on the Armenian language throughout history at all linguistic levels. The main focus of the presentation was on the transition from Old Armenian (Grabar) to New Armenian (Ashgarabar) and the idea that the linguistic stimulus for this transition is Turkish. It is worth noting that, with its objectivity, this presentation serves as a strong scientific argument against the harmful Armenian chauvinist nationalist ideology prevalent in our times.

G. İbrahimov, the head of the six-member delegation from Tatarstan participating in the First Baku Turkology Congress, expressed his opposition to transitioning to a new alphabet based on the Arabic script. Despite his objections, he put forward the idea that "there should be no conflict on this issue" and presented a paper on the matter during the congress. However, in reality, G. İbrahimov addressed the issue of orthography during the congress and provided proposals in this regard. His presentation consisted of three parts. The first part focused on the critical analysis of old orthographies existing until the second half of the 19th century, as well as the analysis of Uyghur, Orkhon, and old Arabic scripts. The second part described the reforms of the Arabic alphabet and, finally, outlined the movements toward the reform of the orthography of Turkic peoples.

In general, the author, G. İbrahimov, identified the specific features of Turkic languages that should be considered for the accurate development of Turkic orthography, presenting his observations to the attention of the congress delegates. However, there was no indication of opposition to Latinization in his speeches and proposals.

During the course of the congress, S. Mumtaz presented his new book "Nasimi" as a gift to the participants. Among the attendees was the Tatar literary figure Aziz Gubaydullin, who, in his speech at the congress, informed that Salman Mümtaz was publishing the works of Azerbaijani poets in the "Kommunist" newspaper. Gubaydullin expressed his appreciation for the biographical information written by Salman Mumtaz about the poets, considering it the "most valuable biographical information" and highlighting its significance before each publication.

Decisions made at the congress
At the First Baku Turkology Congress, the following seven major issues related to Turkic languages were discussed and respective decisions were made, presented by the co-chairman of the organizing committee, Jalaleddin Qorxmazov:

1. Alphabet issue;

2. Spelling-orthography problem;

3. Terminology issue;

4. Teaching-methodological issue;

5. Mutual relationship and interference problems of related and neighboring languages;

6. Literary language problems of Turkic languages, including the issue of a common literary language;

7. Grand language theory and historical problems of Turkic languages.

A number of principles were used to make these decisions. Thus, despite the preference given to the phonetic principle in the spelling-orthography issue, morphological and historical-traditional principle issues were also taken into account. In the issue of the term, preference was given to the Turkish language's own internal capabilities and international specific words as the main source. In teaching-methodology issues, in addition to the European standards in the teaching of the mother tongue, the importance of the national tradition was also noted. During the discussions on the study of related and neighboring languages by scientific methods, the importance of the perspectives of Altaic studies and comprativistics was highlighte.

At the First Turkology Congress, the norms and stylistic features of Turkic literary languages, as well as the issue of the ancestral homeland of Turkic peoples, were also discussed. Representatives of the Congress also participated in the 500th anniversary celebration of the prominent Uzbek poet Ali-shir Navai. Although the Congress decided that the Second Turkology Congress would take place in 1927 in the city of Samarkand, this decision did not materialize due to known reasons.

Among the decisions made by the Congress, issues such as a common alphabet, a common literary language, and common terminology held a particularly significant place.

Result
In 1923, despite the adoption of the New Turkish alphabet as the state alphabet in Azerbaijan, it was only after this congress that the official transition to a unified Latin-script alphabet took place. Before that, the Arabic script was widely used throughout the republic's territory. Based on the decisions of the Congress, on January 1, 1929, the Soviet government officially banned the use of the Arabic alphabet. A large-scale book burning campaign was also conducted with the aim of eradicating this script from memory.

By the decision of the Congress, in other Turkic republics that joined the Soviet Union, the Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin script. In some Turkic republics, this transition occurred earlier. For instance, on July 3, 1927, the party organization of the Tatarstan Republic officially announced the transition to the "New Alphabet" (Tatar: Jaŋalif). Five years after Azerbaijan SSR switched to the Latin script, the Republic of Turkey also adopted this alphabet.

So, as a result of the Congress's decision, all Turkic republics' territories used the Latin script from 1929 to 1939. However, in the late 1930s, the leadership of the Soviet Union initiated efforts to replace the Latin script. In 1939, a decision was made to use the Cyrillic alphabet in the national republics of the USSR. According to the official explanation, the transition from the Latin alphabet to the Cyrillic script was "covered by the general desire of the workers."

The fate of the congress participants
In the late 1930s, many participants of the Congress were accused of pan-Turkism, nationalism, counter-revolutionary activities, subjected to repression, and some were killed. Among them were figures like Ruhulla Akhundov, Aleksandr Samoyloviç, Jalaleddin Gorkhmazov, Bekir Çobanzade, Osman Akchokraklı, Ahmed Baytursunov, Salman Mumtaz, Isidor Barahov, Henefi Zeynallı, Hikmet Jevdet-zade, and others. In general, over 100 participants of the Congress faced various forms of repression.

Memory
Immediately after the congress, a documentary film about this historic event was produced in Azerbaijan. The film titled "1st Turkology Congress" was released in 1926. It discusses the first Turkology Congress held in Azerbaijan for the first time worldwide. The film features the participation of Samad Agamalioglu, Gafar Musabekov, Ali bey Huseynzade, and Huseyn Javid. The movie highlights the proceedings of the Turkology Congress, the adoption of the new Latin alphabet by Turkic peoples, and the unanimous decisions made by the congress on issues related to the literature and language of Turkic peoples.

On April 28, 1976, the Second Republic Conference of young philologists on the theme "Current Problems of Turkmen Philology" was held at the Magtymguly Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the First Turkology Congress.

The legal status of the First Turkology Congress in Baku gained national significance in Azerbaijan for the second time in the 20th century after the restoration of its state independence. On November 5, 2005, President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed a decree on the celebration of the 80th anniversary of this significant historical event, which occurred after the restoration of the country's state independence. In accordance with that decree, an international conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the First Turkology Congress was held in Baku in 2006.

After 90 years, the state-level celebration of the 90th anniversary of the First Turkology Congress took place in Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed a decree on February 18, 2016, to ensure the state-level commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Congress. The decree highlighted that by the end of the 20th century, with the restoration of Azerbaijan's state independence, the official status of the Azerbaijani language as the state language was firmly established, creating a favorable ground for the successful implementation of decisions and recommendations previously put forward by the Turkology Congress in modern conditions. The decree emphasized the formulation of new concepts in Turkology research, the recognition of Azerbaijan as one of the influential centers of Turkological research on a global scale, and the creation of a theoretical and scientific framework for the cultural and spiritual unity of Turkic peoples. The achievements gained also symbolize respect for the memory of distinguished Turkologists who became innocent victims of repression shortly after the Congress, and they highlight the success of the organizational work of the Congress in a short period.

In accordance with the tasks arising from the decree, a plan of events for the commemoration of the jubilee at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences has been prepared. On March 3, 2016, a joint meeting of the Humanities and Social Sciences Divisions was held under the chairmanship of the First Vice President of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Academician Isa Habibbayli. During the meeting, instructions were given to the relevant institutes and organizations regarding the proper celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Turkology Congress, and discussions were held on the planned activities in this direction.

On November 14 and 15, 2016, an international conference dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the First Turkology Congress was organized in Baku. Prior to this, various events commemorating the 90th anniversary of this significant historical event were held in the institutes and organizations of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Baku State University, the Azerbaijan Independence Museum, and in Turkey.