International Ali Qushji Symposium at ITU

ITU hosted the International Ali Qushji Symposium, organized on the occasion of UNESCO's declaration of 2024 as the Year of Ali Qushji, at Maçka Campus on 19-20 November 2024.

The "International Ali Qushji Symposium", which brought together many valuable names with the contributions of Istanbul Technical University (ITU), the Presidency of Türkiye Manuscripts Institution (TYEKB) and Fatih Municipality, in cooperation with Istanbul Medeniyet University (IMU) Institute for History of Science and the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA), was organized at ITU Maçka Campus.The symposium, which was brought to life as a result of the support provided by UNESCO upon its declaration of 2024 as the "Year of Ali Qushji " due to the 550th anniversary of his death, and the joint initiative of Uzbekistan and Türkiye, allowed the famous astronomer, mathematician and scientist Ali Qushji and his works to be examined from different interdisciplinary perspectives.

The opening of the symposium, which attracted great interest from the press, was also attended by Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and Istanbul Governor Davut Gül.In her opening speech, ITU Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. İpek Akın Karadayı stated that addressing Ali Qushji’s contributions to the world of science at an academic level would provide a framework that would shed light on today’s scientific and intellectual life.Karadayı emphasized that Ali Qushji was a figure who transcended his time with his achievements in many disciplines, as well as in the fields of mathematics and astronomy.

TÜBA President Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Şeker, TYEK President Dr. Coşkun Yılmaz, Istanbul Medeniyet University Rector Prof. Dr. Gülfettin Çelik, Istanbul Medeniyet University Institute for History of Science Director Prof. Dr. İhsan Fazlıoğlu also greeted the participants with their speeches.

The symposium, which included seven sessions in total, including the topics of “Optical Problems and Light Terminology in the History of Physics in Islamic World: The Example of Ali Qushji”, “Ali Qushji as a Language Scholar”, “An Example of the Classical Period Student-Scholar Relationship: Ali Qushji According to Ghulam Sinan” and “One-Many and the Predication Schema: Ali Qushji ‘s Perspective”, ended on 20 November.

Simultaneously with the symposium, the " from Samarkand to Istanbul Ali Qushji and His Circle Manuscript Exhibition” " welcomed visitors at the Rami Library.