During 26-29 of August the 2^nd International Anadolu Academic Research Symposium was held in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The event was organized by the International Center for Strategic Studies (USAR) and hosted by the International University of Sarajevo (IUS).

Held under the theme “The Balkans in a Changing World: Multidimensional Approaches and Interdisciplinary Perspectives” the international academic event brought together researchers, scholars and experts from various fields of study. The main objectives of the symposium were to foster scholarly dialogue among different academic disciplines, present contemporary research findings and promote international academic cooperation.

Staff members of the Institute of Folklore of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences also participated in the symposium both in person and online, delivering presentations on a range of topics.

Maleyke Mammadova, a staff member of the Institute of Folklore, PhD in Philology and Associate Professor, made a presentation entitled “Prenatal Rituals in Azerbaijani and Bosnian-Herzegovinian Culture: Beliefs about Fertility, Gender and Health”.

Other staff members of the Institute of Folklore also delivered presentations on various topics in online format. The topics such as “The Beech Tree in Turkic Mythological Thought” by senior researcher Aydin Mustafayev, “The Belief-Based Foundations of the Bosnian Genocide” by PhD in Philology and Associate Professor Atif Islamzade, “Turkology at its centenary: a scholarly roadmap for the next century” by senior researcher Lala Shabanova, “The Mythical-Poetic Semantics of the Water Archetype in Western Azerbaijani Ashiq Poetry” by PhD in Philology Narmin Babayeva, “The Concept of Good and Evil in Azerbaijani Folklore as an Ontological Model of the Turkic Mythological-Philosophical Worldview” by PhD in Philology and Associate Professor Elchin Galiboglu, “The Artistic Transformation and Poetic Function of Folkloric Motifs in the epic “Khosrow and Shirin” by Nizami Ganjavi” by PhD in Philology and Associate Professor Gulnar Osmanova, “The Turan Ideal and the Common Turkic Memory: From Romantic Thought to the Contemporary Turkic World” by PhD in Philology Khayala Agayeva, “The Memorate Genre in World Folklore Studies and Azerbaijani Texts” PhD in Philology and Associate Professor by Elnara Amirli, “The Social-Cosmogonic Function of Women in the Mythological-Philosophical System of Thought of the epic “The Book of Dede Gorgud”  by PhD in Philology and Associate Professor Sevinj Gasimova, “The Mountain Cult in the Poetry of Ashiq Medet Omerov in the Context of the Ancestor Cult” by PhD in Philology and Associate Professor Zumrud Mansimova were made.