Konya Hosts International Mevlana and Nava'i Symposium

Konya Metropolitan Municipality and Selçuk University are organizing the 1st International Mevlana and Ali-Shir Nava'i Symposium to mark the 797th anniversary of Mevlana and his family coming to Konya.

Speaking at the opening of the symposium, the President of the International Ali-Shir Nava'i Foundation, Prof. Dr. Olim Davlatov, said: “I bring you greetings from our ancestral homeland, our beautiful Uzbekistan. Mevlana and Ali-Shir Nava'i—these two great figures—are a source of pride and honor not only for Turkey and Uzbekistan but perhaps for all of humanity. I thank the organizers of the symposium, the Mayor of Konya, Uğur İbrahim Altay, and the leadership of Selçuk University.”

Director of the Mevlana Research Institute at Selçuk University, Prof. Dr. Nuri Şimşekler, said: “Recently, we haven’t seen many studies on Mevlana in the Turkish world. Let this symposium be an opportunity. May our efforts to introduce Mevlana more effectively to the Turkish world begin here today.”

Rector of Uzbekistan Navayi State University, Prof. Dr. Mukhiddin B. Kalonov, thanked Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay and Selçuk University Rector Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Yılmaz for hosting them with such a meaningful program.

Director General of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), Prof. Dr. Mahmud Erol Kılıç, emphasized that the connection between Samarkand, Balkh, and Konya is not merely a line drawn on a map.