THE PROJECT OF “REDRAFTED BOUNDARIES AND CONSTRUCTED IDENTITIES IN EURASIA” COMPLETED

The printing and publication process of “the Project of Redrafted Boundaries and Constructed Identities in Eurasia“, which was officially initiated on July 2010, given a start as a process on February 2011 and put into action on May 2011, was completed as of the date of October 19, 2012.

Aiming to examine the cultural and social changes experienced by the communities of Turkic Languages living in Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation with a sociopolitical and sociolinguistic approach and objectively assessing the role and the policies of Turkey throughout this process of change, thirty five national and international scholars took part in this project. At the end of the project, a four-volume set with a total of 2,500 pages was published.

The products of this project supported by Turkish Language Society, Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities and Atatürk Cultural Centre, will reunite with readers at the end of October, 2012

Bibliographical information regarding the volumes of the project is as follows:

FIRST VOLUME
Aydıngün, Ayşegül, Balım, Çiğdem (Eds.), (2012). Bağımsızlıklarının Yirminci Yılında Orta Asya Cumhuriyetleri Türk Dilli Halklar, Türkiye ile İlişkiler. Ankara: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Yayınları. xx+ 686 s.

SECOND VOLUME
Aydıngün, İsmail, Balım, Çiğdem (Eds.), (2012). Bağımsızlıklarının Yirminci Yılında Azerbaycan, Gürcistan ve Ukrayna · Türk Dilli Halklar, Türkiye ile İlişkiler. Ankara: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Yayınları. xx+ 504 s.

THIRD VOLUME
Büyükakıncı, Erhan, Bacanlı, Eyüp (Eds.), (2012). Sovyetler Birliği’nin Dağılmasından Yirmi Yıl Sonra Rusya Federasyonu · Türk Dilli Halklar, Türkiye ile İlişkiler. Ankara: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Yayınları. xxi + 870 s.

FOURTH VOLUME
Garibova, Jale, Sema Aslan, Rena Salehova( Eds.), (2012). Sovyet Sonrası Dönemde Türk Dilli Halklar: Dil Sorunu ve Yeniden Biçimlenen Kimlikler. xxxiv+ 302. Ankara: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Yayınları. xxxiv+ 302 s.

The book titled “Russian Federation twenty years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union – Communities of  the Turkic Languages and Their Relations with Turkey“, in which the Russian Federation was the main theme, examines the Russian Federation language policies and includes detailed and updated information regarding Tatar, Bashkir, Yakutian as well as  the Turkic languages left with few speakers.

The fourth volume of the project run by Süer Eker, on the other hand, investigates the Post-Soviet Turkic States and the Turkish communities in the Russian Federation with a sociolinguistic and political linguistic perspective. One of the unique aspects of this study is that the author Jale Garibova has experienced and evaluated the whole process of “Soviet Times” and “Post-Soviet” both as an everyday citizen and a sociolinguist. With reference to the extensive literature and experience related to the Western world which she is closely acquainted with, the author discusses the Soviet Union period and post-Soviet period with an ethic and an emic approach on the basis of sociolinguistics. Therefore, it is believed that the fourth and the final volume of the project titled “Redrafted Boundaries and Constructed Identities in Eurasia: Post-Soviet Communities of Turkic Languages, Language Issue and Reconstructed Identities” will make significant contributions to the Turkish readers and the academia.

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“THE ENDANGERED LANGUAGES PROJECT” CONTINUES

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The initial foundations of the project were laid in the beginning of 2011 with a planning that aimed at realizing various activities and sub-projects, including the 4th International Symposium of Turcology Studies (4. Uluslararası Türkiyat Araştırmaları Sempozyumu), which was planned to be organized on May 2012. Upon the suggestion made by Prof. Dr. Ülkü Çelik Şavk, the central theme of the symposium was identified as ” the Turkic communities with endangered languages and cultures”. Adopting the motto “Before the last voices disappear”, as suggested by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Süer Eker, one of the members of the Organizing Committee, the project was put into practice following the planning phase.

Within this period, Prof. Dr.  Marcel Erdal, Professor Emeritus at Goethe University, Frankfurt, was invited by Prof. Dr. Ülkü Çelik Şavk within the context of “TÜBİTAK 2221 Visiting Scientist Fellowship Program” in order to benefit both from his experiences in the “Endangered Languages Project”, which was built on four sub-projects, and to strengthen the graduate program at the Institute of Turcology Studies.  It was thought that Professor Erdal’s work at Hacettepe University through this program would contribute not only to the accomplishment of  the project objectives but also to the studies carried out in the context of Turcology. Prof. Erdal currently maintains his studies within the framework of this program.

While the studies of the project were going on, due to the administrative changes at Hacettepe University, some of the previously planned sub-projects were left hanging to be reconsidered at a later time. However, as a scheduled activity, “4th International Symposium of Turcology Studies” was organized under the theme of “Turkic communities with endangered languages and cultures” as prepared and decided by the previous Organizing Committee.

After a while, the Endangered Languages Project was revitalized with a different structure. Within the scope of this structure, it was decided to create a website on endangered languages, to prepare a Handbook of Endangered Languages (The Handbook of Endangered Languages/ the Red Book) and to publish an online journal, entitled “The Journal of Endangered Languages”  as parts of the wider scope of the project.