Organized within the scope of the "700th Anniversary of Yunus Emre's Death" Events in cooperation with our university, Yunus Emre Institute and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in order to discuss how Yunus' thought and message can be conveyed to the world; “Yunus Emre Panel" was held at Marmara University Sultanahmet Campus, Ord. Prof. Nihad Sayar Conference Hall on September 17, 2021.
Ahmet Misbah Demircan, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt, Rector of Marmara University, Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş, President of Yunus Emre Institute, Coşkun Yılmaz, Director of Istanbul Culture and Tourism and academicians participated in the panel.
At the panel hosted by our university, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Ahmet Misbah Demircan said, "As you know, we are holding commemoration events this year on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Yunus Emre's death, and this year we have built our theme in the Turkish of love. Because Yunus Emre is one of the leading folk poets who best describe and convey our language, and who still live among us today. On the other hand, Yunus is our poet who best describes love, sincerity, humility and affection in Anatolian wisdom. Today, together with our valuable academicians, there were very good speeches about Yunus, a Yunus Emre world, his view of love, his interpretation of the Turkish language.”
Our Rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt, who started his speech by commemorating Yunus Emre with mercy and gratitude, reminded us that the year 1991 was designated as "Yunus Emre Love Year" by UNESCO and continued his words as follows: Yunus's views based on human love inspired phrases of peace all over the world, and at the same time enabling them to be spoken in all the languages of the world. This time, UNESCO dedicated the year 2021 to Yunus Emre on the 700th anniversary of Yunus Emre's death, making a decision that has a worldwide impact on the inscription of our sultan in our hearts once again. Also, by declaring this year "Yunus Emre and Turkish Year" in order to properly understand the 700th anniversary of his death, our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, pioneered the speaking and commemoration of Yunus Emre in all geographies where Turkish is spoken. Kurt expressed that he is very happy that such an important panel was held in the historical building of our university and expressed his gratitude to everyone who contributed to the panel.
Yunus Emre Institute President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş, in his speech, said, " This panel organized to convey Yunus Emre and his views to wider audiences does not only deal with Yunus's thoughts from a historical perspective, but also evaluates how we can reflect these thoughts today, how Yunus's thought can be expressed to the Turkish people living today, and how Yunus' thought and message can be conveyed to the world.” Ateş ended his speech by expressing his thanks especially to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Marmara University.
A short film titled "2021 Yunus Emre and the Turkish Year" prepared by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism was screened at the panel. Afterward, in the first session titled "Turkish of Love", chaired by Yavuz Kartallıoğlu, the speeches on “Yunus Emre in the Process of Forming the Written Language of Turkish” by Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsev, "The Influence of Ahmed Yesevi on Yunus Emre's Sufism" by Prof. Dr. Necdet Tosun, and "Academic Approaches to Yunus Emre in Turkey" by Prof. Dr. Mehmet Aça were delivered.
In the second session that was chaired by Özlem Deniz Yılmaz, it was delivered speeches on “Yunus Emre's Turkish ” by Prof. Dr. Erdogan Boz, “New Information on Yunus Emre and the Vahit Pasha Library Copy of the Divan”by Prof. Dr. Orhan Kemal Tavukçu and “The Power of Word in Yunus Emre” by Prof. Dr. Azmi Bilgin. At the end of the panel, participants were delivered a certificate of appreciation.
