― 15 марта 2023 г.

Awards of the International Competition of Poetry Translation named after Sándor Petőfi were handed over to their winners

Winners of the  International Competition of Poetry Translation named after Sándor Petőfi were handed over their awards.

Winners of the International  Competition of Poetry Translation held in cooperation of TURKSOY with the Lakitelek Foundation to commemorat the 200th anniversary of the birthday of the famous Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi received their awards at a ceremony held at the Móra Ferenc Cultural Centre in Kiskunfélegyháza.

The International  Competition of Poetry Translation was organised with the support of the Office of the  Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, the Municipality of Kiskunfélegyháza, the Hungarian Authors' Association, the Hungarian Academy of Arts, the National Institute of Culture, the Petőfi Literature Museum and the Tolstoy Society.

In the speech he delivered at the ceremony, TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev expressed his great honour to have come together to celebrate the anniversary of the struggle of our kindred Hungarian  people for independence.

Secretary General Raev who stressed  that the competition of  literary translation dedicated to  Sándor Petőfi  gathering  Hungarian and Turkic peoples with common roots was a great success also added that this competition  is key to  the better recognition of this famous  "poet of freedom" in Central Asia and expressed his gratitude to Mr. Sándor Lezsák on behalf of TURKSOY for his strong contribution to the organisation of the competition.

Mr.  Raev further said: "I consider the recognition of the poet Petőfi by the Turkic World as a very major achievement. Indeed, he stands as a symbol of  the importance attached to the freedom of the Hungarian and Turkic peoples who share a common culture.  TURKSOY will always be ready to cooperate with our kindred  Hungarian people in order to preserve and transmit these achievements to forthcoming generations  for a  bright future in which we will be pursue our joint commitments together."

The Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament Mr. Sándor Lezsák announced the details of the international competition of literary translation  organized in commemoration of the 200th  anniversary of the birthday of Sándor Petőfi. He noted that the competition took place with the participation of poets from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan and said that in addition to the translation of a poem by Petőfi which they freely  chose, each contestant translated the famous poet's  "Freedom and Love" into their respective native languages.

Mr. Sándor Lezsák also praised the work of TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev, noting that, in addition to his activities as an author, Mr. Raev,  also undertakes to bring closer together  cultures of Turkic peoples.

The first prizes of the competition in which  20 thousand USD were awarded in total to the winning poets of the Turkic World by TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev were handed over by the  Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament Sándor Lezsák, the Mayor of Kiskunfélegyháza József Csányi, the President of the Tolstoy Association Olga Szűcs and the Head of the Literature Department of the Hungarian Academy of Arts László Fábián Vári.  The Azerbaijani first prize was shared  by  two poets.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Hungary Tahir Taghi-Zadeh, the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Hungary Zhanibek Abdrashov, the Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to Hungary Talantbek Kushchubekov, the First Undersecretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Budapest Özkan Duman and the Project Directors of the Office of the Representation of the Organization of Turkic States in Hungary were also present at the ceremony.