The cultural meeting “Türkiye”, part of the “Cultural Meetings Series: Introducing ECO Member States,” was held on Tuesday, 1 September 2026 (10 Shahrivar 1405) at the ECO Cultural Institute (ECI) in Tehran.
Emphasis on Shared Heritage, Cultural Diversity and Strengthening Cultural Ties among the Countries of the Region
The meeting was attended by Dr. Muhammad Hassan, President of the ECO Cultural Institute; Prof. Dr. Hicabi Kırlangıç, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to the Islamic Republic of Iran; Assoc Prof Dr. Zeki Eraslan, Head of the Atatürk Culture Center, Türkiye; Dr. Gökhan Çetinkaya, Counsellor for Cultural and Information Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Tehran; Prof. Dr. Adnan Karaismailoğlu, Professor of Persian Language and Literature in Türkiye; Prof. Dr. Güler Doğan Averbek, Professor at Marmara University, Türkiye; and Mr. Anvar Yusupov, Independent Researcher and Writer from Uzbekistan.
The meeting aimed to introduce various dimensions of Türkiye’s culture and cultural heritage and to provide an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the cultural ties and commonalities among the Member States of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
Deepening Cultural Understanding: The Main Objective of the Series
At the beginning of the programme, Dr. Muhammad Hassan, President of the ECO Cultural Institute, welcomed the Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye, speakers, researchers and participants and spoke about the objectives of the Cultural Meetings Series introducing the ECO Member States.
Referring to the fact that the Member States had already developed a degree of mutual understanding through historical and diplomatic relations, he noted that the purpose of the series is to deepen this understanding and move beyond conventional diplomatic and historical familiarity. According to him, through these programmes, the ECO Cultural Institute seeks to explore the cultures of its Member States in their diversity, vitality and contemporary expressions, while creating opportunities for deeper connections among the peoples of the region.
Hassan described Türkiye as a notable example of the dynamism and evolution of cultures. Referring to the cultural history of Anatolia, he spoke of the presence and influence of different civilizational layers in shaping contemporary Turkish culture. According to him, Anatolia has been a crossroads of diverse civilizations for thousands of years, and contemporary Turkish culture has inherited traditions from the Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, the Greek and Hellenistic worlds, Rome and Byzantium, the Seljuks and subsequently the Ottoman Empire.
The President of the ECO Cultural Institute emphasized that these traditions did not merely exist alongside one another, but interacted with each other and contributed to the emergence of new cultural expressions.
He also emphasized the importance of cultural diversity, interaction and openness in shaping the cultural dynamism of the region. He added that the objective of the Institute is not to create cultural uniformity, but rather to discover, document and preserve the connections that exist among the peoples of the region.
He described this cultural space as extending from Anatolia to Central Asia, the Iranian Plateau, the Caucasus, Afghanistan and Pakistan, noting that understanding one another’s cultural trajectories can contribute to a better understanding of shared history and to envisioning a common future.
Hassan further described Turkish culture as a cultural layer shaped over centuries by different peoples, traditions, religions, languages and ideas. He identified its ability to absorb, adapt and create new forms as one of its principal strengths, a characteristic reflected in Türkiye’s architecture, music, literature, cuisine, handicrafts, cities and everyday life.
He also noted that Turkish and Ottoman cultural influences extended beyond Anatolia and left their mark across the ECO region, from Central Asia and the Caucasus to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ambassador of Türkiye: Cultural Commonalities as a Basis for Bringing Regional Societies Closer
In another part of the meeting, Prof. Dr. Hicabi Kırlangıç, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to the Islamic Republic of Iran, spoke about the importance of preserving and introducing the cultures of different countries.
He emphasized the role of cultural presentation in promoting a better understanding among nations and identified attention to cultural commonalities as an important basis for bringing the societies of the region closer together.
Türkiye’s Cultural Memory: Gökhan Çetinkaya on a Multi-Layered Heritage
Dr. Gökhan Çetinkaya, Counsellor for Cultural and Information Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Tehran, addressed the cultural memory of Türkiye.
He described Türkiye’s cultural memory as a remarkable treasure rooted in a deep history, a multi-layered civilizational heritage and the cultural diversity of the country. He emphasized the role of tangible and intangible heritage as important carriers of historical and cultural memory.
Referring to the words of the poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı — “A future rooted in the past” — Çetinkaya described this perspective as an expression of a cultural identity that neither seeks to return nostalgically to the past nor imagines a future disconnected from it, but instead draws strength from the past and carries it forward.
He discussed the historical formation of Turkish culture, including the early Turkic communities of Central Asia and their systems of organization, statehood, legal structures, military capabilities and rich oral traditions.
He further explained that following the adoption of Islam by the Turks, particularly during the period of the Great Seljuks, these traditions flourished in science, art and architecture. The Turks, he noted, subsequently became not only part of Islamic civilization but also played a role in its development and transmission to other lands.
Referring to the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Çetinkaya described its significance beyond the military sphere, noting that Anatolia became a space where Central Asian statecraft interacted with the scholarly and artistic traditions of Islamic civilization.
He emphasized that what is today called Türkiye is not the product of a single period or limited geography, but rather the result of the convergence of different peoples and civilizations stretching from Central Asia to the Balkans and meeting in Anatolia.
He also referred to the words of writer Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar — “To transform through continuity, and to continue through transformation” — and noted that this perspective can be observed in Türkiye’s cities, architecture, music, literature, traditional arts and culinary culture.
Çetinkaya highlighted several Anatolian cities, including Istanbul, Konya, Ankara, Mardin and Şanlıurfa, as examples of different historical and cultural layers. He also referred to traditional Turkish music, architecture, calligraphy, marbling, illumination, miniature painting, tilework, copper craftsmanship, carpet and kilim weaving as important carriers of cultural memory.
He described Turkish cuisine as a rich tradition shaped by interaction among different cultures and geographical regions, ranging from olive-oil dishes and various types of kebab to baklava and culinary traditions of the Black Sea and Aegean regions.
In the final part of his remarks, Çetinkaya referred to Türkiye’s 22 properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and 30 elements on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List, describing this cultural wealth as an integral part of the shared heritage of humanity.
He emphasized that an important part of Türkiye’s intangible cultural heritage is shared with the cultural heritage of the ECO Member States and that preserving this common heritage can contribute to expanding cultural cooperation among Member States.
Atatürk Culture Center Projects: From Turkish Folktales to Cultural Identity
Assoc Prof Dr. Zeki Eraslan, Head of the Atatürk Culture Center, Türkiye, introduced the activities and projects of the Center.
He referred to symposiums, congresses, workshops and specialized national and international meetings as part of the institution’s activities and noted that the Atatürk Culture Center has organized 10 editions of the International Congress of Turkish Culture.
He also highlighted the Center’s scientific and innovative projects, including the presentation of the works and ideas of prominent Turkish figures and the translation and international publication of these works.
Another subject discussed was the collection of Turkish folktales from the pre-Islamic period to the present in the masal.gov.tr database. In this context, Eraslan introduced the “Masal, Masal, Türkiye” project, which makes these stories available through a mobile application. The stories have been translated into eight languages, and the application has been downloaded in more than 150 countries.
According to Eraslan, under the “Masal, Masal, Turkic World” project, stories from the Republic of Azerbaijan have also been added to the collection in cooperation with the Embassy of Azerbaijan, while cooperation with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in this field is continuing.
He also referred to the Center’s digital projects focusing on Turkish clothing identity, the history of art and mythology, as well as a project on Turkish culinary culture and its influence on culinary traditions around the world.
Manuscripts: A Shared Written Memory
Prof. Dr. Güler Doğan Averbek, Professor at Marmara University, Türkiye, addressed the role of cultural heritage in preserving shared memory, focusing on manuscript collections in Türkiye.
She discussed the emergence and development of the Islamic manuscript tradition and explained that activities related to the preservation, understanding and interpretation of the Holy Qur’an in Islamic lands contributed to the formation and expansion of manuscript production and bookmaking traditions.
According to Averbek, this tradition also developed in fields such as paper-making, bookbinding, calligraphy, illumination and illustration, leaving behind a valuable heritage reflected in thousands of manuscripts held in official and private collections in Türkiye.
She continued by discussing the historical process of cataloguing and documenting manuscripts in Türkiye and referred to the “Comprehensive Catalogue of Manuscripts in Türkiye” (TÜYATOK) and the establishment of the Manuscripts Institution of Türkiye in 2010 as important stages in this process.
She emphasized the need to complete manuscript catalogues and improve access to information about these collections. She proposed the establishment of a central portal capable of connecting the databases of different countries, which, in her view, could contribute to mapping the shared intellectual memory of Muslim societies and their place in art, science and culture.
Averbek also identified digitization and public access to manuscripts as appropriate methods for protecting this heritage, while emphasizing the importance of preserving manuscripts in their original locations and preventing their illegal removal.
Mullah Nasreddin: A Symbol of the Region’s Shared Heritage
Mr. Anvar Yusupov, Independent Researcher and Writer from Uzbekistan, spoke about the place of shared cultural heritage in the ECO region.
Referring to the mission of the Economic Cooperation Organization and the ECO Cultural Institute, he noted that the connections among the countries of the region are not limited to economic cooperation, but also encompass shared history, culture and cultural heritage.
Yusupov identified Mullah Nasreddin as an important example of the region’s shared cultural heritage. The figure is known under different names in different countries, including “Nasreddin Hodja” in Türkiye, “Molla Nasreddin” in the Republic of Azerbaijan and “Nasriddin Afandi” in many parts of Central Asia.
Drawing on historical and local narratives associated with the figure, he explained that in Central Asia many consider him to have been from Bukhara, while in Anatolia he is regarded as a historical figure associated with the Seljuk period. The earliest written sources concerning Mullah Nasreddin date back to the 13th century.
Yusupov also referred to the connection between this heritage and the two cities of Bukhara and Akşehir. In 1970, a statue of Mullah Nasreddin was installed in Bukhara, where a Mullah Nasreddin festival is held annually. In Türkiye, the International Mullah Nasreddin Festival is also held in Akşehir.
According to him, both Bukhara and Akşehir preserve aspects of this shared heritage and can serve as examples of the common cultural heritage of the ECO region.
Conclusion: Cultural Diversity as a Basis for Connection, Not Distance
The cultural meeting on “Introducing Türkiye” at the ECO Cultural Institute brought together diverse perspectives on culture, history, written heritage and shared cultural elements among the countries of the region.
As highlighted during the meeting, cultural diversity is not an obstacle to bringing peoples closer together; rather, it can provide a basis for deeper and richer cultural relations.
The presentation of Türkiye’s culture within this framework provided an opportunity to reflect on the shared historical and cultural trajectories connecting Anatolia with other parts of the ECO cultural sphere.
The programme was moderated by Dr. Ahmet Akalın, Assistant Director of the ECO Cultural Institute, and concluded with an emphasis on the importance of understanding and preserving cultural heritage, recognizing shared cultural elements among the peoples of the region, and continuing cultural dialogue among the Member States of the Economic Cooperation Organization.