Magtymguly and Sayat-Nova – Rethinking Heritage at the Turkmen-Armenian Scientific Conference

Magtymguly Turkmen State University and Yerevan State University held a distance scientific conference on the theme “Reflection of humanistic ideas and folk traditions in the work of the classic of Turkmen literature Magtymguly Fraghi and the Armenian poet, Ashug Sayat-Nova.”

The conference was opened by the head of the Department of Foreign Literature of TSU, Romanguly Mustakov, who emphasized that in the poetry of the two great masters the words Magtymguly and Sayat Nova are consonant imperatives related to universal values ​​and ideals.

Professor Alexander Safaryan, head of the Department of Turkology of YSU, also addressed the conference participants. He welcomed the initiative of his Turkmen colleagues to hold such a virtual meeting and briefly outlined theses on the study of centuries-old Armenian-Turkmen cultural ties. He emphasized the importance of cooperation between the oldest universities of the two countries, creative unions and the academic circles of Armenia and Turkmenistan.

He also expressed gratitude to the President of Turkmenistan, Honorary Doctor of YSU Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for the state award – the “Magtymguly Fragi” medal, which he was awarded for his contribution to the development of Turkmen-Armenian relations in the field of education, science and culture and the promotion of the creative heritage of Fraga.

Professor Safaryan said that in the scientific journal “Issues of Armenian Studies” his review article was published in collaboration with the corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia Aram Simonyan “On Armenian-Turkmen Cultural Relations and Scientific and Educational Cooperation between Armenia and Turkmenistan”, which was dedicated to 295th anniversary of the great Turkmen poet Magtymguly.

In this regard, proposals were voiced for creating a new anthology of translations of Turkmen poets into the Armenian language, publishing a monograph on the work of Magtymguly, suggested by a teacher of the Department of Turkology Amalia Petrosyan.

On behalf of YSU faculty, Safaryan also took the initiative to open the Center for Turkmen Language and Culture at Yerevan State University and to assign the center to the name of the great Magtymguly Fragi.

Amalia Petrosyan, senior lecturer of the Department of Turkology, spoke in Turkmen, who noted that she mastered Turkmen with the help of her colleagues from Turkmenistan in the process of preparing a scientific work devoted to the work of Magtymguly.

Today she teaches Turkmen and other Turkic languages, Turkmen literature, conducts a lot of work on a comparative study of the poetic heritage of Magtymguly and Sayat Nova. Her scientific report at today’s conference was devoted to this topic.

Then the floor was given to the head of the Department of Turkmen Literature of TSU Amannepes Shikhnepesov, who presented an interesting analysis of the works of two poets of the 18th century.

At the end of the speeches, an exchange of views took place. A. Shikhnepesov noted that he had the honor to participate in the conference dedicated to the 295th anniversary of Magtymguly, organized by the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Armenia together with YSU in 2019, emphasizing that YSU is a very important Turkological center.

The participants in the video conference expressed a common desire to strengthen and continue scientific cooperation between the universities of Armenia and Turkmenistan, as well as science and culture workers of the two countries. The conference was organized with the assistance of the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Armenia.