Kazakhstan and Europe Dialogue through the Literature and Culture of the Turkic World

Amsterdam, June 10, 2025 – The academic conference “Literary Studies of Turkic: Kazakh and Central Asian Perspectives,” organized by the M.Auezov Institute of Literature and Art (Kazakhstan) and the Eurasian Perspectives Research Centre (Netherlands), with the support of the Yunus Emre Institute. The event was dedicated to issues in Turkic literary studies, the exploration of oral and written traditions, and the cultural heritage of Turkic-speaking peoples.

The main objective of the conference was to exchange ideas and scholarly research in the field of Turkology as a shared cultural and academic context for studying and analyzing the literary heritage of Turkic-speaking communities, while also fostering dialogue with literary scholars and writers in Europe. Topics included the use of historical sources (ancient dictionaries, epic narratives, oral and written traditions), the evolution of Turkic identity in 20th-century literature, analyses of the “Manas” and “Zhangir” epics, the legacy of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Old Turkic poetry, and Mahmud al-Kashgari’s “Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk,” as well as Turkology as an interdisciplinary academic field.

Key speakers included prominent Kazakh literary scholars: Prof. Gulziya Pirali, senior researcher at the Auezov Institute; Diyar Kunaev and Saltanat Mukataeva, director and deputy director of the M.Auezov House Museum in Almaty; and researchers Yermek Hankey and Nur Magazbekov. Literary historian Zifa-Alua Auezova and Damiye Margulan, head of the Alkey Margulan Foundation, also shared their academic and educational work. Notable Dutch Turkologists also contributed: anthropologist and Manas epic specialist Nienke van der Heide, and linguist Robert Ermers, who delivered his presentation in Kazakh. Religious scholar and researcher Anne Dijk presented her perspective on the scholarly legacy of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi.

In his welcoming remarks, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Netherlands Kairat Abdrakhmanov noted that the Netherlands and Europe are discovering Kazakhstan and its immense potential through the works of outstanding Kazakh writers and scholars. He emphasized that Turkological studies reflect the unity and common aspirations of Central Asian countries to position themselves as reliable partners and a region of growth along the modern Silk Road.

European researchers were presented with a series of scholarly and literary works by Kazakh academics, based on previously unpublished writings of the prominent Kazakh writer Mukhtar Auezov. These included English-language editions of Gulziya Pirali’s studies: Mukhtar Auezov and Zhambyl and Mukhtar Auezov and the Study of the Epic Manas.

The conference brought together researchers, students, scholars in the humanities, and representatives of the Kazakh community in the Netherlands, all united by their interest in the rich literary and cultural heritage of the Turkic world. It became an important platform for strengthening humanitarian and academic cooperation between Europe and Asia.

The Kazakh delegation also visited the Embassy of Kazakhstan in The Hague, where they reflected on the outcomes of the conference and exchanged views on the prospects for further cultural and academic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the Netherlands, outlining concrete ideas for future joint projects in science, culture, and education.