Tariq Saeedi
Magtymguly sets the bar high. He encourages the youth to live their life by lofty standards. These are the same standards by which he lived his own life.
Of course, there are countless young people who were inspired by Magtymguly early in their life and who tried to follow in the footsteps of Magtymguly as far as the opportunities permitted them. They are in sufficiently large numbers to constitute the defining features of the Turkmen people as a nation.
Every new generation has its own way to relate with Magtymguly Pyragy. This is part of the evolution. This is also part of the genius of Magtymguly. — The vitality of his message remains the same: grit and grace, and everything is connected with everything else. However, the way this message lends itself to every new generation, keeps evolving in line with the hopes and aspirations of every new generation.
Simultaneously, there are many people who have lived their entire life by the creed of Magtymguly and missed no chance to follow in his footsteps. In doing so, they keep re-defining the realm of possibilities even with the lack of material resources. They are role models.
One such person is Dr. Youssef Azemoun. He is nearly 85 and is arguably one of the greatest Turkmen scholars alive today. His success is the success of the ideals of Magtymguly.
Here is a biographical sketch of Dr. Azemoun, published by Atavatan Turkmenistan on 14 April 2023. It gives an idea of the accomplishments of Youssef Azemoun. It was written by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Yunus Emre Tansü and Dr. Erdem Uçar.
Turkmen Sage is 84 Years Old: Yusuf Azmun
Yusuf Azmun, or Youssef Azemoun as he is known in Turkmen, was born on February 4, 1939, in Gonbed-e Kâvūs, where the Turkmens lived in the Northeast of Iran.
He never lost his interest in the field of language and literature, which he was interested in from an early age. Since the last year of high school was not opened in Gonbed-e Kâvūs, he graduated from Mervî high school in Tehran (1958).
He went to America and entered Weatchee Valley College, which is affiliated with the University of Washington in Seattle (1961). He took courses focusing on English Philology. He could not continue his education in America due to financial difficulties, so he came to Turkey.
When Turkologist Omeljan Pritsak in the USA came to Istanbul, he introduced him to Turkologist Reşit Rahmeti Arat. He passed the exam of Istanbul University Turkish Language and Literature department.
Arat gave him special importance regarding Turkmen language and literature, and some nights they would do research together until late hours. While he was still a student, his articles on Turkmen language and literature were published.
In 1974, he worked as a foreign expert in the DTCF (Faculty of Language, History and Geography) Persian Language and Literature department in Ankara, and his book on Turkmen Language Phonology was published in the same year.
He prepared his doctoral thesis on the language of Magtimguli Divan.
While working at DTCF, he worked as an announcer-producer in the Persian section of TRT’s international broadcasts in the evenings.
He prepared the book titled Summary Guide at the Turkish Language Association.
In 1981, he went to England to work as a linguist and taught Turkmen at Oxford University. When he retired from England, where he worked for many years, he taught Turkish Language and Literature at the European University of Lefke (2000-2008) and Girne American University (2008-2012) in Northern Cyprus.
In 2012, he moved to the USA to live with his children and retired.
He is married to his classmate Güzin Hanım, whom he met while he was a student at the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Istanbul University.
He published books and scientific articles in four languages on the Turkmen language vocabulary and the Turkmen poet Mağdumguli (Mahtumkulu). He founded many cultural associations in Turkmenistan and England.
Yusuf Azmun was the first to translate the poems of Mahtumkulu and Yesevî into English in book form.
He wrote the Turkmen section of the Dictionary of Turkic Languages (London and New York: Roughtledge, 1996).
In 2018, he prepared the Turkmen section of the book The English-Turkmen-Russian Dictionary of Librarary and Information (ITA Press) for printing.
The book titled Nury Halmammedov (Society of Friends of Makhtumkuli, 2018), which he translated from Turkmen to English, contains the lyrical biography of Turkmen composer Nury Halmammedov.
In his book titled Our Word Root, Our Self Root (Stokholm, Gün Neşriyatı, 2016), which he wrote in Turkmen language, he explained the “coming and going” of Turkish and Turkmen words as well as Arabic and Persian words existing in these languages.
In addition, he examined Turkish words that were hitherto unknown in Persian. From this book, we learn that there are more Turkish words in Persian than Persian words in Turkish.
Most recently, Dede Korkut’s books titled Turkmen Sahra Nüshası and On the Sounds and Writings of Turkmen were published by Kutlu Publishing House in Turkey.
Yusuf Azmun is one of the greatest authorities alive today in the field of Turkmen language and literature. He continues his Turkish philology studies, which he started in Reşit Rahmeti Arat’s lectern, without interruption today.
Yusuf Azmun was deemed worthy of the Mahdumkulu Literature State Award, the highest literary state award in Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Language Association honorary award in Turkey.
He has publications in four languages.
He was awarded several medals in Turkmenistan, including the Gayrat medal.
He was awarded by the Turkish Language Association and the Turkish Strategic Research Center for his contributions to Turcology in Turkey in 2017.
Apart from his studies in the field of Turkology, he also dealt with music. His song “Dağlar,” whose lyrics and instruments belong to him, can be listened to on YouTube. The song is sung by Aycemal İlyasova, and her son Wepa İlyasov accompanies her in the zither. She wrote the lyrics of this song in English. British vocal artist Najma Akhtar will perform it in due course.
Azmun, who had the opportunity to work more after retirement, is spending his retirement period in America with his two sons and grandchildren, and continues to write books and articles in his spare time.
Yusuf Azmun, who wrote in every field of Turkish philology, from ancient Turkish to modern Turkish languages, is 84 years old today.
Last year Dr. Erdem Uçar and Dr. Yunus Emre Tansü decided to publish a gift book for Yusuf Azmun. For this reason, invitations for gifts were sent to colleagues, friends and students in various parts of the Turkish world.
It was decided to publish 53 articles deemed appropriate among the incoming articles in the gift book, and the gift was published by Iksad publishing under the title “A Gift to the Turkmen Scholar Yusuf Azmun” (The Festschrift Dedicated to the Turkmen Scholar Yusuf Azmun) (https://iksadyayinevi.com/home/turkmen-bilgesi-yusuf-azmuna-armagan/) on the occasion of Yusuf Azmun’s 83rd birthday. /// nCa, 26 June 2024 [to be continued]