BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 29. On September 25, 2025, the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS) hosted the official opening of the International Scientific Symposium on “From Ashig Alasgar to Uzeyir Hajibeyli: Cultural Codes of the Turkic World”. The event was organized by the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, and the Institute of Folklore of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, TurkicWorld reports.
The symposium was dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birth of Uzeyir Hajibeyli, the founder of the Azerbaijani school of composition, and was held within the framework of the XVII International Music Festival named after him.
The purpose of the symposium was to present scholarly innovations and to exchange views in the field of studies devoted to the works of Ashig Alasgar, the legacy of Uzeyir Hajibeyli, as well as the artistic culture of Turkic peoples.
At the opening ceremony, the President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, Mrs. Aktoty Raimkulova, delivered a speech. She emphasized that the main mission of the Foundation is the study, scientific research, and international promotion of the rich cultural heritage of Turkic peoples.
President of the Foundation Mrs. Raimkulova noted that the projects implemented in this field serve not only to preserve the cultural memory of individual nations but also of the entire Turkic world as a whole. Continuing her speech, Mrs. Raimkulova underlined that studying the spiritual ties between the art of the ashigs and the founder of the professional music school, Uzeyir Hajibeyli, will make it possible to present national musical traditions as a unified system and to gain a deeper understanding of the shared musical heritage of the Turkic world. She concluded by wishing the symposium fruitful results and success to its participants.
Also addressing the opening ceremony were the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Academician Mr. Isa Habibbeyli; Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Murad Huseynov; Rector of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, Professor Mrs. Kamila Dadash-zade; and Director of the Chingiz Aitmatov Institute of Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, Academician Mr. Abdildajan Akmataliev. They expressed confidence that the symposium would create valuable opportunities for obtaining new scholarly results and strengthening international cooperation.
At the plenary session, leading scholars of the Turkic world delivered speeches: Academician Mr. Kenzhekhan Matizhanov, General Director of the M. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art (Kazakhstan); Professor Mr. Jabbor Eshonkulov, Director of the Alisher Navoi Literary Museum of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan; Professor Mr. Metin Ekici of Ege University (Türkiye); Professor Erhan Ozden, Rector of the University of Music and Arts in Ankara; as well as other prominent figures.
The sessions addressed such topics as the shared musical memory of Turkic peoples, the historical continuity of ashig art, the influence of classical literature, and the role of Uzeyir Hajibeyli in shaping the national cultural codes.
Concluding on September 26, the symposium was aimed at exploring the legacy of the great composer and ashig creativity in the context of the shared cultural codes of the Turkic world, as well as identifying their role in the formation of national and spiritual identity.
