Within the thematic section “Traditional Values as the Basis for a Dialogue of Cultures,” organized by the Russian Historical Society with the support of the History of the Fatherland Foundation at the XI St. Petersburg International United Cultures Forum, a discussion was held titled “Slavic–Turkic Historical and Cultural Heritage”.
Konstantin Mogilevsky, Co-Chair of the Russian Historical Society and Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, who moderated the discussion, emphasized the special symbolism of Russia’s state emblem—the double-headed eagle whose heads face West and East:
During our previous discussion, we spoke about the dialogue between Russia and the West, and it was noted that the heads of Russia’s double-headed eagle face West and East. The head that faces East, of course, also represents Slavic–Turkic interaction. Today it is difficult to imagine Russia and Russian culture as a whole without its Turkic element, because it emerged through the interaction of many cultures.
Research into Turkic heritage has been conducted in our country for a very long time; interest in Turkic culture appeared in Russia as early as the time of Peter I. Nikolai Makarov, Director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and member of the Presidium of the Russian Historical Society, underscored this long academic tradition in the study of Turkic heritage:
Russian scholarship began studying Turkic heritage earlier than it began studying Slavic heritage. We recall Mr. Schmidt’s memorandum, which was the first scholarly description of Bolgar. We remember Peter as the man who visited Bolgar and issued a decree to preserve it as a historical monument. These are truly unprecedented steps in studying Turkic heritage—at a time when it was not yet being studied in Western Europe and when Slavic heritage had not yet become a subject of scholarly inquiry.
Irina Popova, Director of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, spoke about the contribution of Russian scholars to Turkology:
Turkology is one of the oldest branches of our Oriental studies. Oriental studies in our country are not just a science; they are part of our cultural ideology, part of our cultural code. Russia has always absorbed the cultures and knowledge of the peoples with whom Slavs, Russians, and others lived side by side for centuries. Academic Oriental studies, of course, go back to the time of Peter the Great and the establishment of the Academy of Sciences in 1724, which included an orientalist among its first scholars.
Russian Turkology today remains at the forefront of Oriental studies. Altai historians are doing extensive work in this area. Sergey Bocharov, Rector of Altai State University, spoke about the university's current projects in this field:
Since 2019, at Altai State University we have been systematically working on the topic of Turkic heritage. Thanks primarily to the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. That was when the "Greater Altai" research and education center was established, and the ministry began funding our activities. Our work is multifaceted. Dozens of expeditions and numerous conferences. Every two years we hold the Altaistics Forum.
Amid reflections on the differences between Turkic and Slavic cultures, a view was voiced by Türkan Olcay, professor in the Faculty of Literature at Istanbul University, who noted certain similarities between our peoples:
As a bearer of Turkic culture who was raised in a Slavic environment, I find it very difficult to identify any profound differences. I do not know whether the participants will agree, but in my view there is an enormous number of shared traditional values between Slavic and Turkic cultures. For many centuries they lived side by side and interacted with one another. While preserving their uniqueness, they tried in various ways to understand the other. Therefore, the key values include love for the Motherland, for one’s native land, and, in the case of a multiethnic state, tolerance toward others.
Vladimir Tsoy, Deputy Chairman of the Government of Leningrad Region and Chair of the Committee for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, speaking about the development of the region’s cultural sphere, noted that regional museum collections contain a significant number of objects of Turkic culture. Such holdings make it possible to build cooperation with other countries and expand the circle of experts.
This work is underway and will deepen not because a 'window of opportunity' has opened now, but simply because the Slavic and Turkic worlds have been together for a very long time.
Shayyrkul Batyrbaeva, Head of the Research, Digital, and Museum-Education Center at the Institute of History and Regional Studies of J. Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University, developed the theme of how the younger generation in the post-Soviet space perceives the history of the Great Patriotic War:
Our historical roots go back to deep antiquity. Today, in a difficult geopolitical situation, ill-wishers try to sow doubts under the slogans of decolonization and de-Sovietization, which is why what we are doing today is so important. One of the key topics this anniversary year was the Great Patriotic War. There are unhealthy forces that want to persuade the younger generation, those born after the collapse of the USSR, that this was not 'our' war.
Answering a question about the attitude toward the East embedded in the Russian cultural code, Ilya Zaitsev, Deputy Director of the State Museum of the Orient, cited the opinion of the eminent Russian orientalist and Arabist Vasily Bartold. Speaking in 1914 at an Academy of Sciences meeting on the tasks of Russian scholarship in Turkestan, he stated:
"The dignity of Russia and the position of the Russian people among the other subjects of the Empire oblige us—Russian scholars and Russian science—to study the past of Turkestan and the Turks in a way no other nation in the world can."
Ravshan Nazarov, Associate Professor at the Tashkent branch of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, spoke about the interpenetration of Russian and Turkic cultures over centuries of ties:
Slavic–Turkic unity is one of the key historical milestones in Russia’s development. There is the famous book by Baskakov, "Russian Surnames of Turkic Origin," which lists 500 surnames. Many elite surnames appear in that book: Arakcheyev, Turgenev, Bulgakov, Berdyaev, and so on.
At the close of the session, participants laid flowers at the Eternal Flame of the Memorial Complex to the Peaceful Citizens of the Soviet Union Who Died During the Great Patriotic War, in the village of Zaitsevo, Gatchina District.