On the 2nd anniversary of his death, a memorial program was organized at our University for Prof. Ş. Teoman Duralı, our founding chairman and faculty member of the Department of Philosophy. On December 6, 2023, in the commemoration program held at the Media and Events Center Event Hall; The intellectual legacy left behind by Prof. Şaban Teoman Duralı, who has a considerable importance in the fields of biology, metaphysics, culture and values, especially philosophy, was evaluated by his colleagues on the 2nd anniversary of his death within the framework of the topics discussed from Prof. Duralı's perspective.
The event, which started with a short video clip prepared on behalf of Prof. Duralı, continued with the greeting speeches of our Rector Prof. Atilla Arkan and the papers presented by the panelist academics on the topics that Duralı adopted as his philosophy of life on the axis of his ideology.
Our Rector Prof. Atilla Arkan, who started his welcoming speeches at the symposium with his memories of his journey with Prof. Teoman Duralı, which first intersected in Malaysia, talked about Prof. Duralı's ability to read our history in a systematic and cumulative way and his belief that the Turkish nation, which has achieved so much in the past, will achieve the same milestones in the future.
Prof. Arkan mentioned the enviable traits he observed in Prof. Duralı's character during the time he spent with Prof. Duralı and stated that he defined Prof. Teoman Duralı as a person who avoids cohesive networks of relationships; who has always managed to stay at the distance he should be with life, people and emotions, and who does not allow the moment he lives in to capture him and sees himself as a moment in the ordinary flow of history.
Arkan thanked Prof. Duralı, who served as the founder and head of the Department of Philosophy at Ibn Haldun University from its establishment until the year he passed away, for generously sharing his knowledge, which formed the backbone of the Department of Philosophy of our University and shaped its future direction. He also mentioned that Prof. Duralı filled the gaps left by British civilization in philosophy and ethics by building a systematic philosophy.
Pointing out that the events currently taking place in Palestine are the result of a power struggle that is more than humanity due to the lack of philosophy and morality in the West, Arkan underlined that Prof. Duralı built his philosophy by seeing exactly this deficit of the West.
Finally, Arkan mentioned Teoman Duralı's enormous contributions to the original Turkish philosophical thought and concluded his speech by expressing his gratitude to everyone who contributed to the organization of the commemoration program, especially the faculty members of Ibn Haldun University Department of Philosophy.
In the sessions held in two stages after the welcoming speeches, academics presented papers on different topics on the axis of the original Turkish philosophical thought pioneered by Teoman Duralı.
"Prof. Mehmet Günenç with the title "What is the Backbone of a Nation", Dr. Rıza Tevfik Kalyoncu with the title "On Teoman Duralı's Contemporary Global Civilization", Prof. Habip Türker with the title "The Idea of Turkishness in Teoman Duralı", Assoc. Dr. Mustafa Yavuz, Dr. Özden Özkaya Demirhan with the title "Language in Teoman Duralı", Prof. Alparslan Açıkgenç with the title "Teoman Duralı's Contributions to the Understanding of Philosophy as a Science", Assoc. Dr. Vahdettin Işık and Assoc. Dr. Enis Doko chaired the panel sessions.
The event, where the participants had the opportunity to visit the exhibition titled "The World from Teoman Duralı's Frame" consisting of the photographs taken by Prof. Teoman Duralı during his experiences all over the world with his personal camera, ended with the general evaluation and closing speeches of Assoc. Dr. Vahdettin Işık.
