On the 20^th of November the 1^st International Turkic World Traditional Music and Cultural Identity Symposium, dedicated to the 150^th anniversary of the birth of Kalvalı Ali Dede, began at the Central Scientific Library of ANAS.  The event was jointly organized by the ANAS Institute of Folklore, ANAS Institute of Architecture and Art, Azerbaijan National Conservatory, Ankara University of Music and Fine Arts, Erzinjan Binali Yildirim University, Kars Kafkas University State Conservatory, Ahmed Yesevi International Turkish-Kazakh University, Azerbaijan Ashiq Union, International Mugham Center, Union Printing Group LLC and the “For Copyright” Public Union.

First, fresh flowers were laid in front of the bust of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev in the lobby of the Library, honoring the dear memory of the Great Leader. Opening the event with an introductory speech, the President of ANAS, Academician Isa Habibbeyli, mentioned that the main goal of the symposium was to scientifically investigate the rich musical folklore of the Turkic world, especially the historical roots of ancient musical instruments such as balaban, zurna and saz, their place and traces in cultural identity and collective memory. He also noted the scientific importance of the symposium in terms of examining the work of Ali Karimov, a prominent representative of the zurna-balaban school, known as Ali Dede of Kalvali, in the context of the Turkic world.

The head of ANAS mentioned that the ideas told by President Ilham Aliyev on the 80^th anniversary of ANAS define new strategic tasks for the scientific community. At the end of his speech, the head of ANAS wished the symposium participants success and mentioned the importance of continuing research in this field.

Then, Fakhri Hajiyev, Head of Staff of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, Doctor of Historical Sciences, read the text addressed to the event by Aktoti Raimkulova, President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation.

Speaking at the event, Professor Kamila Dadashzade, Rector of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, said that the symposium created an important platform for the cultural integration of the Turkic peoples, an environment of scientific cooperation and close unity around common cultural values. Kamila Dadashzade said that the main goal of the event was to generalize research conducted in the field of traditional music of Turkic peoples and strengthen scientific exchange.

Director of the Institute of Folklore of ANAS, Doctor of Sciences in Philology Hikmat Guliyev, noted that the event was of great importance in terms of the scientific study of the common musical memory, traditions and performing heritage of the Turkic world. According to his thoughts the symposium created an opportunity for researchers from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to come together and discussed issues such as the word-music-movement triad, traditional performance and folklore-music relations and was an important scientific platform for the preservation of national identity in the era of modern globalization.

The director also mentioned the need for comparative research of the musical codes of the Turkic world and the formation of a common scientific discourse. He noted that the development of a unified scientific concept for Turkic music and the creation of a digital archive of the legacy of Kalvali Ali Dede were important scientific directions in the future.

Later the plenary reports on various topics were heard and discussions were held. It should be noted that the international symposium will end on the 21^st of November in 2025.