The Evaluation of Nesip Yusufbeyli's Unpublished Writings in Terms of Turkey-Azerbaijan Literary and Intellectual Relations
Project no. 29703 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2023
Summary
<p>Nesip Yusufbeyli was a statesman who served as the Prime Minister in the second government of the Azerbaijan Republic, established in 1918, and was also an intellectual who contributed to Azerbaijan's modernization efforts. While his political life in Azerbaijan after 1912 is well known, there has been no study on his activities before 1912.</p><p>Born in 1881 in Ganja, Nesip Bey went to see Ismail Gasprinski, the leader of the Turkic people in Russia, a journalist, pedagogue, and thinker, in 1906. He stayed with Gasprinski for a while and started working at the <em>Tercüman</em> newspaper, where he published various articles under the signature N(un). Y(a). During his years in Crimea, in addition to his journalistic work, he was also involved in literary and cultural activities. He played the role of Necef Bey in the drama <em>Dağılan Tifak</em> by Abdürrahim Hakverdili, one of Azerbaijan's playwrights.</p><p>Apart from writing various articles for <em>Tercüman</em>, Nesip Yusufbeyli also contributed many articles to the <em>Alem-i Nisvan</em> journal, which he published together with Ismail Gasprinski's daughter, Şefika Gasprinski. In addition, he was responsible for the publication of the <em>Viborg Declaration</em> in 1906. When Ismail Bey visited Turkey in 1909, he brought Nesip Bey along, and Yusufbeyli established connections with intellectuals in Ottoman Turkey. The articles bearing the signature "N. Y." in <em>Tercüman</em> can be categorized into topics such as the press, language debates, education, political writings, and literary criticism.</p><p>The complete collection of the <em>Tercüman</em> newspaper is only available in our department. As part of this project, the 67 articles signed "N. Y." in <em>Tercüman</em> will be categorized into subjects such as the press, language debates, education, political writings, and literary criticism. The categorized articles will be transcribed from Arabic script to Latin script, and evaluations of the writings will be provided. Once the transcription and evaluations of the 68 articles are completed, the collection is planned to be published as a book by Ege University Press.</p><p>Since Yusufbeyli’s writings have not been fully published or evaluated, they retain their original value. This project is expected to contribute to Turkey-Azerbaijan political, cultural, and literary relations.</p>