The Department of Turkology was founded in 1995 in accordance with the order of the Rector on the establishment of the Department of Oriental Studies consisting of three departments, one of which was the Department of Turkology. The first head of the department is Professor G. Khalimonenko. In 2001, the Department of Turkic Studies became part of the newly established Institute of Philology. In 2003, it was headed by Associate Professor V. Pidvoyniy. Since 2016, the department has been headed by Dr. Sc. in Philology, Professor I. Pokrovska.
In the history of the department, as well as for the University as a whole, a landmark moment was the opening of the Crimean Tatar language study programme in 2014. This decision was made a few days after Russia annexed Crimea.
Today, the department provides teaching of four Turkic languages: Azerbaijani, Gagauz, Turkish, Crimean Tatar.
The educational process at the Department of Turkology is provided by 18 teachers: 1 Dr.Sc. in Philology, Professor, 6 Ph. D. in Philology (2 of whom have the rank of Associate Professor), 1 Ph. D. in Pedagogical Sciences, Assistant Professors, foreign teachers – native speakers.
The scientific activity of the department covers a wide range of topical issues of modern Turkology: linguistic and literary connections of Ukraine with Turkic-speaking countries and peoples, specifics of ethno-cultural vocabulary, phraseology, morphology and syntax of Turkic languages, methods of teaching Turkic languages to the Ukrainian-speaking audience.
Employees of the department defended 3 doctoral and more than 15 Ph. D. dissertations. They took part in more than 100 national and international conferences, published 5 monographs, wrote the first in the history of Ukrainian Turkology dictionaries and textbooks practicums in Turkish, Azerbaijani and Crimean Tatar languages, published dozens of dictionaries and collections of literary translations. Professors of the department carry out and publish translations of Turkish poets and writers into Ukrainian, translations of selected works of T. Shevchenko (F. Arnaut) into Turkish. In 2020, for the first time in the Turkish language, the “Kaydashevafamily” of I.Nechuy-Levytskyi was translated by I.Pokrovska.
The department maintains active scientific and cultural connections with scientists of Ukrainian universities, as well as with foreign educational institutions, diplomatic missions and business structures. This is evidenced by the visits of the First Ladies of the Republic of Turkey – Semru Sezer (2003) and Emine Erdogan (2017), as well as cooperation with the universities of Turkey, in particular with Istanbul University, that started enrolling students in the Ukrainian Language and Literature programme since 2018. The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), which employs graduates of the Department, is also a friend of the Department of Turkic Studies.
The department, known both in Ukraine and abroad, is also glorified by its graduates who work in diplomatic missions, in the field of education and science: O. Dibrova (Chubrykova) – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Finland; S. Sorokin – Director of the Institute of Oriental Languages, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Kyiv National Linguistic University; O. Kulchynskyi – Orientalist, Translator-Turkologist, Teacher of Ukrainian at the Department of Slavic Languages of Istanbul University, etc.
Every year, the Department of Turkicology participates in the organization of the Contest of Scientific Reports “Multicultural Identity of Nowruz”, holds an Olympiad in the Turkish language (translation).
People that worked in the department at various times:
- Olha A. Virnyk
- Nataliia M. Korchynska
- Aliyeva Kerim Kizi
- Uliana I. Kyrychuk-Khassan Said Hassan
- Kateryna O. Teleshun
- Anastasiia Patselia
- Iryna Yanytska