YTB Organized a Memorial Program In Frankfurt For Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin

The Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) organized a memorial program in Frankfurt, Germany, for Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin, who is highly regarded in German and Turkish academia and who, with his studies at Goethe University, broke new ground in the fields of Islamic history and the history of science and technology.

The “Fuat Sezgin Memorial Program on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth” was held with the participation of YTB President Abdullah Eren, Frankfurt Consul General İlknur Akdevelioğlu, Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Islamic History of Science Research Foundation Member of Board of Trustees, Bilal Erdoğan and invitees.

WE SEE THE EUROPEAN TURKISH IDENTITY AS A GREAT RICHNESS

YTB President Eren delivered a speech at the program. Stating that Islamic civilization has made serious contributions to the world of science, Eren said, “As the Islamic geography, we are a civilization that has made serious contributions to the world of science. In this sense, Fuat Sezgin has fundamentally changed the research in the field of history of science with his works. Our citizens living abroad are equally valuable as our citizens in the country are. While always feeling the support of Türkiye behind, we also aim our presence abroad for them to stand strongly on their own feet. We see the European Turkish identity as a great wealth and see them as important subjects in determining the future of the societies they live in. By gathering here together today, we show that the Turkish society embraces Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin’s legacy.”

LET’S RAISE OUR NEW GENERATIONS WITH THIS SELF-CONFIDENCE

Frankfurt Consul General İlknur Akdevelioğlu said in her speech that it is valuable to pass on the legacy of Professor Fuat Sezgin to future generations. Stating that future generations should be raised with more self-confidence with examples from Fuat Sezgin, Akdevelioğlu said, “As the Frankfurt Turkish community, we are responsible to pass on the legacy of our valuable teacher Fuat Sezgin to future generations. The European-centered understanding of history tells us that everything started with the renaissance. However, with the research of Fuat Sezgin, we see that the Turkish Islamic civilization has made very valuable contributions to that scientific accumulation too. Therefore, we can be very self-confident as the Turkish Islamic civilization, because our contribution to this heritage is great. I hope that we raise the new generations with this self-confidence.”

HE HAD PERSONALLY READ AND BOUND 10 THOUSAND VOLUMES IN HIS LIBRARY

Member of the Board of Trustees of İBTAV Bilal Erdoğan drew attention to the genocide taking place in Palestine and made the following statements: “I would like to start my speech with the wish that the genocide taking place in Palestine will end. Today, we have a magnificent museum in Gülhane Park in Istanbul and a library named after our teacher and his wife right next to it. Our teacher’s eternal resting place is also right next to the library. The eternal goal of our teacher Fuat Sezgin was for our Muslim youth to learn the history of science and to look to the future with self-confidence, knowing the contributions of Muslim scholars to this accumulation. You can do it because you did it, our teacher said. I had the honor of knowing Fuat Sezgin while he was alive. Our teacher did not spend much time eating or traveling. He spent more time writing and reading. Just think, he personally read and bound 10 thousand volumes of works in his library. He would work 17 hours a day and knew 27 languages. If you think of serving our country, our nation and our ummah in the back of your mind, our valuable teacher showed us that we can do this anywhere in the world.”

A musical recital was presented to the guests by İsmail Metin Çadıroğlu and his team in the program.

On the 100th Anniversary of His Birth, Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Memorial Program” Kırıkkale University President Prof. Dr. Ersan Aslan made his presentation titled “Fuat Sezgin”.

A panel was organized under the moderation of Dr. Ömer Faruk Bayraktar on the life, works and contributions of Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin to the history of science.

The “Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Memorial Program on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth” ended following a family photo.