2023-12-16 13:23:51
Chairman of the National Council, professor Jamil Hasanli
I opened the morning with the news of Kamil’s death. I can’t believe it. He came to Baku about two weeks ago. We are neighbors. We met several times in nearby cafes and tea places and talked for hours and remembered the past years. He said that the roads should be opened, let’s go to Darban. There are many historical places related to Turkish culture. But there was no luck, no roads were opened. You say he came to say goodbye to his homeland and friends. In his last fb posts, he often wrote about death and separation. This is sudden death, eternal separation. Azerbaijan lost a great intellectual, a great scientist, a great linguist, a unique philologist, a well-known social and political figure.
For me, he was a simple, sincere Kamil teacher, Kamil Hodja. Teacher Kamil, who carries light inside and shows kindness towards everyone. Teacher Kamil had a great role in our generation’s entry into scientific and social life. From the 70s and 80s of the last century, he was the elder of the young generation. The wise man Kamil teacher, as it is said among the people, was great with great and small with small. Kamil and I have traveled a long way together at the University, in the intellectual environment of the country, in the people’s movement, in the People’s Front, in the National Council, and in science. Although he lived in Turkey, he was represented in the leadership of the National Council and the Front, and considered it his duty from a national moral point of view. He was a man of the road. National leader Abulfaz Elchibey also went on the road. He remained faithful to his path until the end of his life.
I have known Kamil Veli Narimanoglu since 1970. That year, I entered the history faculty of Azerbaijan State University. Mr. Kamil had just graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the University and was employed as a teacher in the Department of General Linguistics. True, such success did not come to everyone, and very few students who excelled in education, science, intellect and public affairs were directly retained as teachers at the university. At that time, the University was moved to a new building next to the Academy campus, but the history and philology faculties remained in the old building on the “Communist” street, now “Istiglaliyet” street. Although the teaching is carried out on the basis of rotation, it can be said that the students of both faculties know each other well, they often had to meet the professors and teachers of both faculties.
When we entered the university, we were poor village children who had not yet gotten used to city life, and since we were staying in a dormitory at that time, the “disciples” of Abulfaz Elchibey, a young teacher of the history faculty, were able to quickly charm us. In the fall of 1970, I got to know Kami Vali Narimanoglu – Kamil Valiyev, as it was called at that time. He was a very tolerant, young, caring teacher towards everyone, especially students and young people. Despite the fact that he started a new job at the university, he was considered the “elder” of his peers. It was on this basis that we met teacher Kamil. Later, in the book he wrote about Mr. Aulfaz Bey, Kamil was able to shed light on some interesting aspects of the events of that period.
In the 70s of the last century, new young forces came to the literary environment and public discussions. Due to their ideological orientation, they were a continuation of the 60s generation, which had already become a target of criticism. Among them, there were young scientists, such as Aydin Mammadov, Kamil Valiyev and others, who often spoke in the press, conducted programs on the radio about folk spirit, folk language and folk literature. After the liberal ideas of the 60s, in the beginning of the 70s, a total control mechanism was established, so it became very difficult to speak in society and attract the attention of public opinion. Since November 1969, the “Bulag” program, launched on the initiative of the young writer Mevlud Suleymanli, created a small opportunity in terms of traveling to the memory of the hand and language and expressing the people’s spirit. Kamil Veli Narimanoglu, a young teacher of the Faculty of Philology, was one of those who took advantage of that opportunity and took advantage of the spirit of the people.
Later, teacher Kamil defended his candidacy and doctoral theses in the field of Azerbaijani linguistics. Many of his books on language, literature, and folklore have been published, his research on “Kitabi-Dade Gorgud”, which is our literary and eternal monument, has been published, the monograph “Epic Poetics”, “The memory of the hand, the memory of the language”, “Introduction to Linguistic Poetics” and textbooks were published. I witnessed his interesting discussions with our unforgettable teachers, professor Suleyman Aliyarli and academician Tofig Hajiyev, which penetrated into the deep layers of “Kitabi-Dade Gorgud”, and I deeply enjoyed and felt proud of these discussions. In 1999, the publication of Kamil Veli’s original thoughts and opinions about the ancient epic in the book “The Poetics of the Book of Dede Korkut” in English was a great event in the emergence of Azerbaijani and Turkish horror studies in the world.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the scope of Kamil Vali Narimanoglu’s scientific researches and the geography of broadcasting expanded even more. The sincerity, love, and ability to penetrate the people’s soul in the “Kitabi-Dade Gorgud” researches were transferred to Yunus Emre, “Composer, Painter and Architect of the Turkish Language”, published in Ankara in 1994. Then “State Language Policy of Azerbaijan” was created, “Poetics of Yunus Emre”, “Turkish Folklore – Turkish Language and Poetics – Turkish Thought Life” and other fundamental works were published.
Kamil Veli’s research on the Turkological congress of 1926, his publication of the conference’s materials, and his research on the life and activities of the participants of the congress, who later became victims of Soviet repressions, have not only a scientific content, but also a moral value. At the Baku Turkological Congress of 1926, debates on the alphabet, discussions on the language issue, considerations on the national and cultural development of the Turkic and Muslim peoples of the USSR created a new content in Kamil Veli’s pen. Back in 1996, together with Kamil Veli, we took part in an interesting conference dedicated to the “70th anniversary of the Baku Turkological Congress” held by the unforgettable president of the Turkish Language Institute, Ahmet Bican Ercilasu, with the participation of our teachers Professor Süleyman Aliyarli and Academician Tofig Hajiyev. I asked our teacher at our last meeting.
Kamil Veli Narimanoglu’s multifaceted activity also has a political side. In 1992, when the national government of Elchibey was established in Azerbaijan, he held a high position as the Deputy Prime Minister. During those years, Kamil Vali, like a number of selfless members of the Elchibey team, was able to set an example of service to the nation and the state, played an important role in the country’s education and culture policy being cleansed of Soviet ideology and gaining a national content, and he did not intend to do anything in his own name. Unlike some of those who were represented in high state and government positions at that time, Kamil Vali Narimanoglu always insists on one point that the transition of the country from totalitarianism to universal values, the withdrawal of foreign military forces from Azerbaijan, the release of the national currency, the start of economic reform, and the new education and culture policy were directly carried out by Abulfaz. Elchibey determined, and the team implemented.
Today, Kamil Veli Narimanoglu, who is one of the most famous representatives of Azerbaijani science, intellectuality, and all-Turkic thought system, joined the world of truth. He expected the reward of all the good deeds he did from his conscience. His death is the loss of the nation, the loss of the people, the loss of the society. Today, the country bids farewell to a national figure, bids farewell to a man of the people, bids farewell to an intellectual who kept the national spirit alive with his name and deeds. Farewell dear friend, great person, great scientist, great teacher!
#shock #Freedom