ICANAS
(International Congress of Asian and North African Studies) |
ICANAS, consisting of the initials of “International Congress of Asian and North African Studies”, is a prominent congress with its history of 134 years. The congress brings many academicians together from different countries to discuss subjects in fields such as language, history, literature, religion, philosophy, anthropology, culture, ecology, economics, international relations and music, in the light of scientific methods and approaches. The 37th ICANAS was held in Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation in 2004, while the 36th was held in Montreal, Canada in 2000, and the 35th was held in Budapest, Hungary in 1997. The first ICANAS congress was held in Paris in 1873 and the studies were conducted under the name of “International Orientalists Congress” until 1973 when the congress was re-named as “International Congress of Asian and North African Studies” as the most outstanding meeting in the field of social sciences and humanities. Studies in the field of Turkology and Synology have highly been emphasized from time to time while the studies on Arabian and Persian civilizations have also been centers of interest occasionally. “The Encyclopedia of Islam” published in French and English can be considered to be the fruit of Orientalist studies. During “International Orientalists Congress” in Paris in 1948, the next congress organization was given to Türkiye in accordance with the demand of late Fuat KOPRULU, the great Turkish scientist, despite the hot debates about where to hold the next meeting. ICANAS 22, thus, was held in Istanbul led by Prof. Dr. Zeki Velidi TOGAN with 590 participants in 1951. Unfortunately, some wicked people, who wanted to lead the congress instead of TOGAN, made many unpleasant publications and declarations on media, which TOGAN narrates in his book. At the 37th ICANAS meeting held in Moscow in 2004, Prof. Dr. Sadık TURAL, a member of International Advisory Board of ICANAS 37, insistently expressed his demand about holding the next meeting in Türkiye to Prof. Dr. Gyorgy HAZAI (Hungary), the Secretary General of the Board of ICANAS, who is an outstanding Turkologist with a deep sympathy for Turks, and to Prof. Dr. Dimitri D. VASILYEV (Russia), a Turkologist, who is a personal friend of Prof. Dr. TURAL. Türkiye’s demand about holding the next meeting was also supported by Jean-Louis Bacque-Grammont, a professor studying on the Ottoman History and Civilization. Additionally, with the support of Prof. Dr. Rostislav B. RYBAKOV, the president of Russian Academy of Sciences (the Russian counterpart of Atatürk Supreme Council) hosting ICANAS 37, it was decided that the next ICANAS meeting would be held in Türkiye despite the insistent attempts of four other countries, especially the Netherlands, to host the next congress. The organization of the congress was unfortunately delayed until November 2005, losing almost 10 months, due to the unpleasant attempts and desires of those who did not want the congress to be held by Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History. First, the National Organization Committee was formed; then, the names for the International Advisory Board were determined under the supervision of Prof. Dr. HAZAI by taking their approval via mail or phone. Finally, the National Executive Committee was formed by choosing scholars among the members of the National Organization Committee in order to follow and complete the necessary organization properly. The organization of the congress is about to be completed despite all the negative efforts. The State Minister Prof. Dr. Beşir ATALAY was appointed to be the coordinator between the 59th Government and the National Organizing Committee and International Advisory Board. Prof. Dr. ATALAY has heartily supported us to hold the congress successfully by letting us make use of the sponsorship provided by TIKA. During the meeting of the International Advisory Board and the National Organization Committee held in Ankara on May 6-7 it was unanimously decided that a new tradition will be adapted for the congress from then on to honor 12 stars of science and art of the host country, who are over 80. 12 names (12+2 names are selected in case we may lose any of our elderly scholars) offered by the National Executive Committee have been accepted unanimously. Bozkurt GÜVENÇ and Kemal BAYTAŞ who has enthusiastically worked in the promotion of Türkiye abroad have replaced our two late stars, Prof.Dr. Nihat NIRUN(Sociologist) and Prof. Dr. Hasan EREN (Philologist), who have recently passed away. During the congress, over 800 foreign participants (among which are the State Minister Dr. Hidayet ORUCOGLU “Azerbaijan” and Prof. Dr. Canseyit TUYMABAEV, the Minister of Science and Education “Kazakhstan”) from 67 countries five of which are from are autonomous republics, and over 900 participants from Türkiye will participate in the congress as presenters and panelists. Due to a special agreement between our institutions, THY (Turkish Airlines) offers a discount of 10% to all our participants who prefer to fly to Ankara. The sessions will take place in Bilkent Hotel Congress Center and TOBB University; and the gorgeous opening ceremony of the congress will be televised all over the world in Turkish, English and Russian as well as being publicized through internet. We would like to express our gratitude to Ali DOGRAMACI and Tahsin KESICI, the rectors of two world-famous universities, for their whole-hearted support. We strongly believe that this congress during which approximately 1500 papers will be presented, 108 panelists will speak and totally 1777 presenters (since some papers are prepared by 2-3 people) will take place will highly contribute to the advancement of social sciences and humanities as well as to the promotion of Türkiye.
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PREVIOUS CONGRESSES |
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ORIENTALISTS
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF HUMAN SCIENCES IN ASIAN AND NORTH AFRICAN
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ASIAN AND NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES
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