It was the presentation day of a new book about Ahmed Bey Agaoglu, one of the most colossal figures of our recent history, introduced to me by my father in my youth, a prominent socio-political figure of Azerbaijan and Turkey, a great thinker, writer, publicist, Turkologist, and the founder of liberal Kemalism...
For me, Ahmed Bey Agaoglu means Atatürk's comrade-in-arms; for me, Ahmed Bey Agaoglu means Turkey; for me, Ahmed Bey Agaoglu means the Republic.
For this reason, I attended the presentation program of the book “A Thinker Between East and West: Ahmet Ağaoğlu” by Dilgam Ahmed, the tireless and prolific researcher of our Republican history, held at the ancient venue in the city where East and West meet – Istanbul University...
An hour and a half before the start time, I entered through the Vezneciler gate of the historic university and strolled in a lush green garden whose tranquility reminded me of Hyde Park in London. In this lush green park where I walked, Ahmed Bey, who once served as a lecturer – a teacher – at the university, and later his daughter – Turkey's first female lawyer and first women's rights advocate, writer Süreyya Ağaoğlu – had walked, breathing the historic air of Istanbul with the same passion for renaissance.
Passing the Rectorate building, I turned left past the historic Beyazıt Tower, towards the Faculty of Law. I bought tea and raisin cookies from the canteen in front of the faculty and mingled with the future lawyers. I wonder if this canteen existed during Süreyya Khanum's time? Did she also sit here and drink tea?... ...But I couldn't drink my tea; that strange feeling knotted in my throat wouldn't let me...
The future lawyers and judges were preparing for their midterm exams with excitement. I quietly took out my notepad and wrote these notes...
In my opinion, it would not be right to simply write down what I saw today as a "news report." Because what transpired is greater and deeper than a mere book presentation. This is an attempt to re-awaken the shared memory of two countries, to keep it alive. Writing news about giants like Ahmed Bey Agaoglu is often secondary; the main thing is to understand and explain his magnitude.
Ahmed Bey Agaoglu was not merely a man of ideas. He is the intellectual map of Azerbaijan and Turkey, of an entire nation. He is our first great intellectual who sought to build a bridge between East and West. He was born in Shusha, but intellectually formed in Paris. The legendary Sorbonne University was not just an educational institution for him; Paris was not merely the pearl of Europe for him, but a world that transformed his mechanism of thought. Here, Ahmed Bey assimilated European liberalism, individualism, and the philosophy of the rule of law to his very core.
However, he did not blindly imitate these ideas; he confronted the values he adopted in Europe with the harsh realities of Eastern society. Agaoglu's intellectual power was evident in three important directions:
1. Intellectual courage
He did not romanticize the problems of the East. He declared that the roots of our backwardness lay precisely in the internal crisis of our culture. For the conservative environment of that era, this was an extremely radical stance.
2. Systemic perspective
He was not merely a publicist. He viewed the state, law, women's liberation, and education – all of these – as a unified modernization project.
3. Ability to unite two worlds
He was neither entirely Eastern nor entirely Western. He was a rare “transitional figure.” Although such figures are few in history, their influence transcends centuries.
For Azerbaijan, Agaoglu is one of the intellectual pillars of national awakening;
For Turkey, he was by no means “a man of ideas from abroad”; he was one of the intellectual architects of the new state, a close comrade-in-arms who directly influenced Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's thoughts.
The issues Agaoglu raised in his time still retain their relevance today:
– Can the East modernize, or will it merely imitate the West?
– Should freedom emerge from within culture?
– Does the state shape the individual, or does the individual shape the state?
None of these questions have yet found their full answers.
This is also the main conclusion I drew from Dilgam Ahmed's book: we are still within that colossal dialogue initiated by Agaoglu.
Everyone who spoke at the presentation – from the Rector of Istanbul University to the guests from Baku, from Dilgam Ahmed, the tireless researcher of our recent history, to Fuzuli Majidli, the advisor of our country's embassy in Turkey, who distinguished himself with an extremely balanced, scientific speech – spoke about this legacy.
I was sitting next to Yeşim Ağaoğlu. Ms. Yeşim, an art historian, is the great-granddaughter of Ahmed Bey Agaoglu's brother. After the presentation, there arose a need to share the historical weight that had settled in our souls and to converse a little.
Taking her companion, Ms. Leman, with us, we exited together through that historic arched gate, which until 1933 was called Darülfünun-i Şahane. We passed from Beyazıt to Çemberlitaş and descended towards Hagia Sophia. Along the way, we respectfully remembered our mutual friends, Ahmed Bey's great-grandson Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Ms. Nigar Akhundova, and other dear friends.
We conversed at length in the tea garden located in front of the Obelisk in Sultanahmet Square, opposite Hagia Sophia. As we rose to leave, I looked at Ms. Yeşim and cautiously voiced the great truth within me: “Do you know that Ahmed Bey Agaoglu brought the Republic model to the great Atatürk?”..
Ms. Yeşim had sunglasses on... Behind those dark lenses, I felt her eyes welling up...
Great people not only write history but also leave behind great questions whose answers will be sought throughout history.
