Professor Dr. Dursun Yıldırım, the founder of Turkish folklore who brought an international vision to the field, will be commemorated with a symposium organized by the Department of Turkish Folkloristics at Hacettepe University on the first anniversary of his passing.

This scientific meeting, to be held in memory of Prof. Dr. Dursun Yıldırım, who passed away on October 27, 2024, will feature prominent scholars in the fields of Turkology and Folklore from various universities as speakers.

Yıldırım, who introduced an interdisciplinary approach to Turkish folklore and defined it by contemporary academic standards, became a pioneering figure in folklore both in Turkey and internationally. His academic legacy has played a decisive role in the international perspective of today's folklorists and has also served as an inspiration for studies conducted at various universities.

In 1969, Prof. Dr. Dursun Yıldırım, a pioneering figure in Turkology, was appointed to the Department of Turkish Language and Literature. Dursun Yıldırım, who began his academic career as the first assistant of Prof. Dr. Şükrü Elçin and the Department of Turkology, distinguished himself with his research on epics and sagas, as well as his work on a wide range of topics in the field of folklore. He became the first Turkish scholar to research epics in the Turkic world before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The projects he undertook during this period pioneered the Turkic world and folklore research, illuminating the future of the field.

This symposium, organized in memory of Prof. Dr. Dursun Yıldırım, aims to reiterate the insights he brought to folklore and to create a platform that illuminates the world of Turkish culture. All those interested in and devoted to Turkish culture are invited.