Hosted by the Rectorate of Gazi University, XII. International World Language Turkish Symposium is being organized at the 100^th year of the Opening of the "Gazi" Assembly (The Grand National Assembly of Turkey) by Department of Turkish Education, the Department of Turkish Language and Literature Education and the Institute of Educational Sciences.

The opening of the symposium held in Mimar Kemaleddin Hall on 21^st October of 2020 was also broadcast live on Gazi University social media accounts. The opening of the symposium was attended online by Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şentop, President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TGNA); Our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız, President of Turkish Language Institution  Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsevin,  President of Yunus Emre Institute Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş, Deputy of General Secretary  Türksoy Doç. Dr. Bilal Çakıcı, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Bekir Buluç, Secretary General Hasan Kaleli, Rector Advisor Prof. Dr. Halil İbrahim Bülbül, faculty members and students.

After the National Anthem and moment of silence, the opening speeches began. President of TGNA Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şentop, who participated in the symposium with an online connection, wished the symposium to be successful and thanked our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız, who hosted the event, for his efforts.

Şentop, emphasizing that the first condition of being a nation is language, said, "The flag symbolizes independence; language symbolizes our identity and presence. Our language is a strong river flowing from Central Asia to today to the future ."

Şentop who stated the importance of using Turkish effectively and efficiently stated, “If we use our language effectively and efficiently, we can keep it alive. Otherwise, words will be melting away like glaciers, it disappears. The most important reason for the disappearing of some languages is that the language is not a writing language and that language cannot be transferred to later generations."

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şentop, President of the TGNA, said that Turkish is spoken in a very wide geography and his explanation, “The statement that emerged with the end of the Cold War, 'You can travel from the Adriatic to the Great Wall of China just by speaking Turkish' is remarkable. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şentop said "The boundary of our language is beyond the boundaries of our political sovereignty. Consequently, the borders of our heart geography are very wide."

President of the TGNA Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şentop, who has given advises on the symposium, said that another purpose of the symposium should be to "analyze the methods and facilities of providing the internal harmony of the Turkish language family and extend it outwards". President of the TGNA Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şentop who explained that the issue, how will be the future be of Turkish Language? How long will Turkish Language survive on its own form tomorrow is of interest of our country and people,  the Turkish language isn't an issue that the Institution of Turkish Language can deal with alone.

Our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız stated that the symposium has special importance owing to explain the National Struggle at the 100^th year of the establishment of the 'Gazi' Assembly and in order to continue our activities which are focusing on transferring the feature of Turkish as a world language to future generations.

Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız stated that languages are the most important point that enable communication between societies and nationalization and identity acquisition in the historical process. "On the historical stage, source of our nation, which has established sixteen Turkish states without interruption, is undoubtedly fed by the Turkish language. The Turkish language has existed in writing and in verbal form for nearly fourteen centuries; The Turkish language, as one of the most important powers of the Turkish nation, on the historical stage, has been ranked in the ranking of the oldest writing languages in the world today.

Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız, who also mentioned the issue of Karabakh the occupied Azerbaijani territory, condemned Armenia for its attacks on Azerbaijan. Our Rector Yıldız congratulated the state executives and army units, primarily President of Azerbaijani İlhan Aliyev, who have used the right of defense to save Azerbaijani's territory from occupation and has raised the Flag of Azerbaijan again. Our Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız has wished for the liberation of all occupied territories as soon as possible.

Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız said that as Gazi University, we are going to all the while support Azerbaijan. From this stand, I would like to say to our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters, as Gazi University, we stand with you in this rightful case in a consensus opinion at scientific platforms. Our prayers are always with you. I wish that all Azerbaijan and other lands, which have been dealing with problematic situations, in the Turkish world will be at peace as soon as possible. By giving the name of "Azerbaijan" to the opening panel of the symposium and by giving the names "Karabakh", "Hodjali", "Nakhchivan","Gence"  and "Baku" at the halls in the sessions; I would like to express once again that we are supporting Azerbaijan and stand with them until the end in the rightful struggle of our" Can" Azerbaijan."

Deputy of TÜRKSOY General Secretary Doç. Dr. Bilal Çakıcı began his speech by conveying the greetings of General Secretary of TÜRKSOY Düsen Kaseinov. Assoc. Prof. Çakıcı stated that the Gazi Assembly, which is celebrating its 100^th anniversary, has taken important steps in the nationalization of our language since its establishment and that these studies are also examples for the Turkish Republics, which have been gaining their independence. Çakıcı stated that the Turkish Republics, which have encountered the extinction of their mother tongues during the period of captivity, have made great efforts to revitalize and spread their languages. “These studies have strengthened the power of our Turkish Language. These efforts have opened the way for our language to spread in a very wide geography. So many languages ​​and dialects have also joined Anatolian Turkish, which has been spoken by about 100 million people. "

President of Yunus Emre Institute Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş emphasized that language is vital due to establishing the identity of a nation. Ateş pointed out that the studies on Turkish should be increased and supported and said, "The priority duties for us are to catch rapidly changing language policies in the globalizing world, to prevent the corruption of Turkish in virtual environments and to continue the character of the Turkish language by feeding on its own roots."

Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş expressed that in order for Turkish to become the language of science and to be recognized more, international study and research areas need to be determined and Turkish scientists and foreign scientists should be in communication with each other and should negotiate various issues.

President of Turkish Language Association Prof. Dr. Gürer Gülsevin emphasized that Turkish is a world language and he said: “Language is a means of agreement between people by the simplest definition, but it's not correct to describe it as such on its own. Language has national and cultural sides. According to the UN, there are 193 countries. There are 7,000 languages in the world, but not 7,000 official languages. Stated in other words, for a language to be a world language, it also needs elements such as spoken language, literary language and science language. Our Turkish is a world language that has been coming from the 7^th century to the present day without any interruption. Students from many parts of the world are coming to Turkey to study and learn Turkish. Besides, we see that people of all ages are learning Turkish abroad. Today, we are a country that exports TV series and movies to the world. These TV series have an important role in the spreading of Turkish. "

Head of the Department of Turkish Education at the Faculty of Education of our University Prof. Dr. İhsan Kalenderoğlu said in his opening speech that they were happy, honored and proud to host a very important symposium on behalf of our University. Prof. Dr. İhsan Kalenderoğlu said that it is necessary to organize these and such activities in order for Turkish, which has the characteristics of being a world language with thousands of years of history, to take its steps firmly in the future.  Prof. Dr. İhsan Kalenderoğlu, explained that as Gazi University, our purposes are to "position Turkish among the most popular languages in the world and to progress on this route; to continue our academic studies at the point of teaching Turkish  as a foreign language and to Turkish children living abroad" . Additionally, Prof. Dr. İhsan Kalenderoğlu said "Dear President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, happy 100^th anniversary of the opening of our Grand National Assembly of Turkey, which was awarded the title of "Gazi" by being subject to attacks both in the Period of National Struggle and the War of Independence and on the 15^th of July treacherous coup attempt."

After the opening speeches, Ahmet Yesevi University, Yesevi Art Society's music performance began. After the music performance, the Painting Exhibition named Turkish World from the Altai to the Balkans organized by TÜRKSOY was opened.

The first session of the symposium was managed by Prof. Dr. Abdurrahman Güzel who is the founder of the symposium and also a member of the advisory board. In this session, presentations were given by Prof.Dr. Abdurrahman Güzel "Evaluations on the Current Status of Turkish Education,” Prof. Dr. Ahmet Bican Ercilasun "The Place of Turkish among the World Languages,” Prof. Dr. Celal Demir "Our Dictionary Preparation 'Tradition' and School Dictionaries" and Assoc. Prof. Elena Oganova "History and Today of Turkish Teaching in Russia".

52 sessions will be held within the scope of the symposium between the dates 21^st-23^rd of October. 260 people including academicians, who are studying Turkology and have made important and distinguished works in social sciences in the fields of "Turkish Language and Literature, Education of Turkish Language and Literature, Education of Turkish, Modern Turkish Dialects ​​and Literatures” will attend along with young researchers at undergraduate, master and doctoral levels.