Opening Ceremony of the 2023-2024 New Academic Year Held
The opening ceremony of the 2023-2024 academic year was held at 1071 Congress Centre.
Muş Governor Avni Çakır, Garrison Commander Colonel Ali Osman Sağlam, Mayor Feyat Asya, our Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nihat İnanç who was the guest of honour, and our university's academic and administrative staff and students attended the ceremony. Törene katılım oldukça yoğundu.
It started with a moment of silence and the Turkish national anthem, followed by the screening of our university's promotional video. Afterwards, Dr. Member Ender Can Dönmez from Malatya Turgut Özal University performed a baglama performance for the guests. Dr. Dönmez's unique baglama melodies fascinated the audience.
Prof. Dr. Nihat İnanç, who attended the opening ceremony as the Guest of Honour, then took the floor. In his speech, Prof. İnanç primarily touched upon Israel's blockade of Gaza that has been ongoing for about a month. Afterwards, Prof. İnanç talked about the conditions in our city and the difficulties experienced during the establishment process of our university in 2007, when he assumed the role of the Founding Rector, and emphasized that he was pleased to see that the saplings planted with a thousand difficulties in those years have grown and flourished today. Muş Alparslan Üniversitesi'nin şehir ve bölgemiz adına büyük bir umut olduğunun farkındalığını her daim taşıdığını belirtip, görevi süresince "Özgür Üniversite, Medeni Dünya" mottosundan ilham aldığının altını çizdi. Prof. İnanç also gave advice to MAUN students, and at the end of his speech, he expressed his gratitude to MAUN Rector for his loyalty.
Following Prof. İnanç's speech, MAUN Rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Alican took the floor. In his speech, Rector Alican drew attention to the Israeli oppression, which has been trying to destroy Palestinian Muslims, disregarding all written legal texts since October 7, and emphasized that Israel's legitimacy is questionable and that it is meaningless to talk about justice and mercy in the face of the world's attitude despite the events taking place in front of everyone's eyes. Referring to the period of peace and tranquility of the Islamic lands under the rule of a single authority in the era of the Great Seljuks, Rector Alican highlighted the stability established in Jerusalem from the conquest of the Seljuk Commander Atsız immediately after the Battle of Malazgirt in 1071 until World War I. He said that within the framework of this truth, the Gaza Masjid to be opened in our university has a great meaning.
In the second part of his speech, Rector Alican stated that he will work to offer a beautiful future to our students with the inspiration we receive from our ancestors who bequeathed Anatolia to us as a homeland, and underlined that Imam Ghazali and Imam Juwayni, who built thought by treating the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah with respect; and Mevlanas and Hacı Bektaş-ı Velis who said "Come again no matter what you are"; Yunus Emre and Ahmed-i Hanî, who sang the truth with the language of the people, are a source of inspiration for all of us. Rector Alican, who described the difficult conditions that our university was initially in during its establishment, touched upon the current situation at MAUN from those years to the present, and talked about the projects that he aims to implement together in the coming period.
Finally, he expressed his gratitude to the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who provided the children of our geography with the opportunity to play a role in the historical adventure of our nation by equipping Anatolia with universities, for deeming him worthy of the Rectorate of Muş Alparslan University.
In the remaining part of the ceremony, Prof. Dr. Adnan Çevik, who is the chairman of the Malazgirt Battlefield Identification, Historical and Archaeological Surveys Project conducted under the Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, of which our university is a stakeholder, made his speech on "Malazgirt; In Pursuit of the Blessed Heritage" within the scope of the first lecture of the 2023-2024 Academic Opening Ceremony. Prof. Çevik started his speech by defining Zionism and the Zionist understanding. Stating that Zionism has made the Middle East uninhabitable, he emphasized the need to have modern knowledge in healing the bleeding wounds caused by Zionism in the Islamic geography, especially in Palestine. Saying that historical awareness in a society will be possible by making historical knowledge visible, Prof. Çevik touched upon the importance of the Malazgirt Battlefield Identification, Historical and Archaeological Surface Research Project, which is in its fourth year. In this context, Prof. Çevik evaluated the metaphor of opening the doors of Anatolia to the Turks by referring to the Great Seljuk cultural route, starting from Ani and covering Malazgirt. Finally, Prof. Dr. Adnan Çevik underlined that one of the biggest achievements of this project was "the appointment of a member of the project team as the rector" and wished the new semester to be fruitful for all our professors and students.
At the end of the academic opening ceremony, MAUN Rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Alican presented gifts to our guests. Then, a photo was taken with the participants and guests.
