As part of the Science Cafe activities organized by the Erzurum Technical University (ETU) Science Communication Office, an event was held to commemorate the 106th anniversary of the Erzurum Congress. Held in collaboration with the Erzurum City Archives (ERŞA) on July 23, 2025, at the ERŞA Mansion, the program explored the historical and cultural aspects of the process leading to the founding of the Republic.

The event was attended by ETU Rector Prof. Dr. Bülent Çakmak, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Naim Ürkmez and Prof. Dr. Ceren Sültan Elmalı, Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality Culture and Social Affairs Department Head Ergün Engin, Erzurum Development Foundation (ERVAK) President Erdal Güzel, as well as university academic and administrative staff and many citizens of Erzurum.

During the program, Prof. Dr. Murat Küçükuğurlu, a faculty member in the History Department of ETÜ's Faculty of Letters, gave a presentation titled "Foundations of the Republic and the Erzurum Congress." In his speech, Küçükuğurlu examined the wars, famines, epidemics, rebellions, and natural disasters that Erzurum has faced since the 19th century, in light of historical documents, and assessed the resilience and awareness these challenges have fostered among the people of Erzurum.

Drawing particularly on the telegram sent by Erzurum's opinion leaders to Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1906, which reported the disasters that befell the city, Prof. Dr. Küçükuğurlu conveyed the region's historical burden, highlighting Erzurum's immense struggle during and after World War I. The presentation also comprehensively analyzed the Erzurum Congress's convening process, its participatory structure, and the impact of its decisions on the domestic and foreign policies of the War of Independence.

Prof. Dr. Küçükuğurlu emphasized that the Erzurum Congress was not only a regional defense meeting, but also a turning point in which the understanding of legitimacy based on the will of the people was implemented and which formed the intellectual basis of the War of Independence.

Following the conference, participants had the opportunity to witness history by visiting the special archive exhibition, which opened in the courtyard of the ERŞA Mansion and consisted of newspaper clippings from the early years of the Republic.

Corporate Communications and Promotion Directorate, 24.07.2025