The saz, words, and wisdom of Aşık Veysel were discussed at the program titled “Flowing into Our Hearts from Aşık Veysel” at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (BEUN). Folk songs performed at the end of the program, which included discussions on the poems, intellectual world, and cultural heritage of Aşık Veysel, created emotional moments for the audience.
The Rector of BEUN, Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer, senate members, academic and administrative staff, and students attended the event held at Doç. Dr. Ali Arslan Conference Hall on the Farabi campus.
Rector Özölçer: “Aşık Veysel Was a Traveller Who Saw Through His Heart”
The program started with a moment of silence for our honorable martyrs and the singing of the National Anthem. The Rector of BEUN, Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer, gave the opening speech. He emphasized the significance of coming together to commemorate and understand the wise voice of Anatolian wisdom, Aşık Veysel, and said the following:
“We are gathered here today to commemorate Aşık Veysel, the humble and wise figure of the Anatolian wisdom, who left traces in our world of hearts and culture. He was not only a saz performer or a master of words, but a traveller who could see through his eyes, tell from the heart, and talk to the hearts. He was legendary through his life and became immortal through his work. You can see the love for the homeland, longing, nature, mother’s love, patience, and gratitude in his verses. Even though he completed his journey as “a traveller who walks day and night in a two-doored inn”, he continues to accompany us in this “mortal and transient” world, as Dede Korkut said. I extend my thanks to those who contributed to the organization of this program on behalf of the master voice of the heartfelt words and a strong representative of our aşıklık (minstrelsy) tradition.”
Following the opening speech, the program continued with the presentations by the Dean of the BEUN Faculty of Theology, Prof. Dr. Seyfullah Kara, and Head of the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Teoman Duralı Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhittin Turan.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhittin Turan discussed the works of Aşık Veysel at length and emphasized the value of his poems in terms of meaning and content. He stated that Veysel did not adopt a sectarian distinction and that his complaints addressed to God stemmed from his love for the divine. He also discussed the reflections of contrasts in Veysel’s poetics and evaluated the poet’s literary universe from a rich perspective through quotations from Mehmet Âkif Ersoy and Mehmet Âkif İnan.
Taking the floor after Assoc. Prof. Dr. Turan and Prof. Dr. Seyfullah Kara emphasized that the effort to understand Âşık Veysel carries great importance in terms of cultural continuity, noting that the poet’s rich cultural world should be analyzed comprehensively.
Following the speeches, Prof. Dr. Seyfullah Kara performed two of Âşık Veysel’s folk songs accompanied by the saz, creating emotional moments in the hall. After the performances, BEUN Rector Prof. Dr. Özölçer presented certificates of appreciation to the academics who delivered presentations at the program. The program ended with a group photo session.
