Gaspirali Ismail: Pioneer for Turkic world

BAKU

Ismail Bey Gaspirali, Crimean-Tatar thinker who was one of the pioneers of Turkish enlightenment, is commemorated on his 169 birth anniversary. 

He was the pioneer of the idea that Turkish communities can be united under "unity in language, work and opinion." He left a mark on Turkish societal thought, specifically through his work in media and education. He still continues to inspire with his long-lasting ideas.

Gaspirali, whose surname comes from his father's village, Gaspira, was born March 20, 1851 in Bakhchisarai, Crimea.

He was educated in a local Muslim school, then a gymnasium for boys. Then he enrolled in military academies in Voronej, then in Moscow, to become a soldier.

He wanted to go to Turkey in secret, to join the Ottoman army who was fighting Greek rebels in Crete. He failed and was captured, which ended his academic life.

Only 17, he returned to Bakhchisarai and started teaching Russian.

Gaspirali went to Paris in 1872, and worked as an assistant of the famous Russian novelist, Ivan Turgenyev. Two years later, he went to Istanbul, then returned to Crimea in a year.

From 1878 - 1884, he was mayor of Bakhchisarai, and started working in publishing to promote Turkish - speaking communities, and create a national awakening.

He wrote articles about Muslims in Russia, and worked very hard for educational reform in Turkish and Muslim communities.

According to Gaspirali, the language of education had to be Turkish in schools, and a common language/conception in Turkish literature should be created. In addition, he thought there should be a national, common media for the Turkish-language speaking nations to know more about each another.

With this purpose, Gaspirali started publishing the Tercuman newspaper April 22, 1883, after a long process of getting permissions from Russian authorities. The paper was in Ottoman Turkish, but occasionally used Tatar and other Turkic languages. Tercuman started to be published once a week, then twice a week in 1903, and became a daily in 1912.

The Daily Tercuman became the first Turkish daily in Crimea, and the third Turkish daily among the Russian Muslims. Other newspapers became relatively short-lived, making Tercuman the one and only Turkish - Muslim daily in Czarist Russia.

It gained a wide following in the Turkic world. The Daily Tercuman, in spite of its restricted triage, became one of the most-read newspapers especially by the intelligentsia in the Ottoman Empire, Iran, Balkans and Caucasia.

Gaspirali, the educational reformist

Gaspirali opened a school for local governments in a small province in Bakhchisarai, in 1884. In this school, reading, writing, and all basic courses were thought with a more practical and easier method. This method was groundbreaking for Muslim schools in Czarist Russia.

For Gaspirali, the educational system needs to be in service of proper teaching of the mother tongue before all, and should include secular as well as religious education.

Gaspirali's education method, which he called "Usul-u Cedid,” or the new method, became widespread. The number of Usul-u Cedid schools in Russian Empire was more than 100 in 1895, and became nearly 5,000 in 1914.

Gaspirali was an avid supporter of Muslim Turkish girls' education. His sister, Pembe Bolatukova, opened the first Usul-u Cedid school for girls in 1893 in Bakhchisarai.

The first women's magazine in the history of Russian Turks, Alem-i Nisvan, started publication in 1905 under Gaspirali's supervision and the editorship of his daughter, Sefika Gaspirali.

The first children's magazine of Russian Turks also started publication by Gaspirali around the same time. "Alem-i Sibyan" magazine started as a supplement to the Daily Tercuman in March 1906.

Gaspirali's health deteriorated due to his extremely busy life, and he died in Bakhchisarai on Sept. 24, 1914. His funeral was attended thousands coming from all around Russia. He was buried near the tomb of Haci Giray Khan, who was the founding father of Crimea Khanate.

"Unity in language, work and opinion"

Gaspirali dedicated his life to improving the lives and situations of Turkic communities.

His words, "unity in language, work and opinion," still sheds light on the Turkish world.

The words are still accepted as a guiding principle for relations between Turkic communities.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut