President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized that art is one of the pillars of national culture and identity and said: “We have profound knowledge of art.” he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Special Award Ceremony and the Living Human Treasure Award Ceremony at the Beştepe National Congress and Cultural Center.
Erdoğan stated that Türkiye is a strong and skillful nation and said, “We have extensive knowledge of the arts.” he said.
President Erdoğan's statement is as follows:
“Each work created by the artist is a summary of the geographical area in which we live. We have profound knowledge of art. It can be said that Anatolia is an open-air museum. Turkey is the second country with the most cultural heritage registered in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
Art is one of the pillars expressing culture and national identity. I thank you, our precious masters, who make art with love and dedicate their lives to their work, for building new bridges between the past and the future.
The focus and starting point of our civilization is man. According to our belief, man with his dignity, is like a treasure within himself.
10 NEW NAMES
To date, we have placed 90 individuals and 2 groups on our list of Living Human Treasures. This year, we will add 10 new names to our list.
DIGITIZATION
Sometimes, a country can lose power based on its material factors. It will never be erased from history as long as it does not lose its language, culture and future. In this respect, we are an extremely strong and skillful nation. We are having difficulty conveying our values to today's youth. Digitalization and the modern cultural industry are causing many problems in our country and around the world. New technological developments create mental laziness. Quantity is more popular than quality.
We continue our work to protect, preserve and pass on our culture and heritage to future generations. We don't play in the stands.
We have ensured the return of 13 thousand 448 works smuggled abroad over the past 23 years. We've organized more than 9,600 events in 20 different cities. We will expand Living Heritage Schools to 81 provinces.
From now on, we will continue our efforts to protect and strengthen our cultural heritage.
