First All-Union Turkological Congress

First All-Union Turkological Congress
Participants of the First All-Union Turkological Congress
General information
Type	Academic conference discipline = Turkology
Organization
First occurrence	1926
Locations and dates
Palace of Turkic Culture	26 February - 5 March 1926

The First All-Union Turkological Congress (Russian: Первый Всесоюзный тюркологический съезд; Azerbaijani: Birinci Türkoloji Qurultay) took place in Baku from February 26 to March 6, 1926, within the territory of the Soviet Union. The congress focused on the history, literature, language, alphabet, ethnography, and culture of the Turkic peoples residing in the Soviet territory.^[1] It resulted in the adoption of several important decisions for the near future. The scientific and methodological principles for the transition to the Latin script were thoroughly discussed and prepared during the congress.

The First Turkology Congress has entered history as one of the most significant events in the cultural life of Turkic peoples, including the Azerbaijani people, in the 20th century. The congress brought together not only Turkic peoples residing in the Soviet Union but also foreign guests, with a total of 131 participants, including scholars, linguists, historians, poets, writers, and other prominent intellectuals.^[2] The congress was a crucial step in the cultural integration of Turkic peoples. It laid the foundation for addressing and preparing a series of important issues for the diverse Turkic peoples living in a vast geographical area. Its exceptional significance lies in the formulation, elaboration, and implementation of various significant matters.^[3][4][5]

The congress sessions were chaired by Samad Aghamalioglu, the head of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR. The Presidium of the congress included Samad Aghamalioglu, Ruhulla Akhundov from Azerbaijan, Habib Jabiyev, the orientalist-historian academic Vasili Bartold, academic Sergei Oldenburg, the representative of European scholars Professor F.F. Mensel, Naqovitsin from the People's Commissariat of Public Education of the RSFSR, Professor Bekir Çobanzade, Professor Aleksandr Samoyloviç, Ahmed Baitursynov from Kazakhstan, Isidor Barakhov from Yakutia, Ilya Borozdin and M. Pavlovich from the Oriental Studies Association, Galimcan İbrahimov from Tatarstan, İdelguzin from Bashkortostan, Mehmet Fuat Kopruluzade from Turkey, Jalaleddin Gorkhmazov from Dagestan, Nahamov from Uzbekistan, Tunstanov from Karakalpakstan, Berdiyev from Turkmenistan, Osman Nuri Akchokraklı from Crimea, and Umar Aliyev from Northern Caucasus were elected.^[6] Ali bey Huseynzade, Bang, Mustafa Guliyev, academic Nikolay Marr, Anatoli Lunacharsky, and Tomsen became honorary members of the Presidium of the Congress.

Over 100 of the participants were later accused of pan-Turkism and faced repression. A majority were imprisoned or killed.^[7] The significant outcome of the congress, the transition of Turkic peoples to the Latin script, was abolished in 1939, and a mass switch to the Cyrillic alphabet was implemented for the Turkic peoples residing in the Soviet Union.