On the 27^th of April 2026 the scientific seminar was held at the South Azerbaijan Folklore Department of the Institute of Folklore of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. At the seminar the presentation was delivered by the head of the department, Doctor of Sciences in Philology, Associate Professor Matanat Abbasova, on the theme “Ashiq Environments of South Azerbaijan: Preservation of the Turkic Epic Tradition and Linguistic-Stylistic Diversity”. In addition to the department staff, employees from the Folklore and Written Literature Department and the Department “Dede Gorgud” also participated in the seminar.

The seminar extensively discussed the formation of ashiq environments in South Azerbaijan, their development trends, the preservation of epic storytelling traditions, and their linguistic and stylistic characteristics. It was noted that ashiq art, as a syncretic cultural phenomenon, is formed through the unity of rhythm, intonation, poetry and prose, and serves as one of the main carriers of the spiritual memory of the people.

The scholar mentioned that the limited access to education in the native language and the weak opportunities for promoting national and spiritual heritage in South Azerbaijan have contributed to the wider spread of oral literature, particularly ashiq creativity. According to Matanat Abbasova’s thought, these conditions have both preserved ashiq art and stimulated its enrichment and development across various regional environments.

In the seminar the concept of the “divinely inspired ashiq” in epic creation, the functional and symbolic role of the saz and the preservation of Turkic epic traditions at the level of motifs and plots have also been analyzed in details. According to Abbasova, motifs such as miraculous birth, receiving the buta (a symbol of inspiration), and the hero’s trials are consistently maintained in South Azerbaijani epic storytelling, preserving them as part of the broader Turkic epic memory.

The scientific seminar continued with discussions and an exchange of views on the topic. At the end of the event, the importance of further in-depth research on the ashiq environments of South Azerbaijan and the expansion of scholarly studies in this field was mentioned.