The Speech Collection Project was introduced by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. In addition to Minister Ersoy, the President of the Atatürk High Institution of Culture, Language and History, Prof. Dr. Derya Örs and Atatürk Research Center President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kılınç also attended. Minister Ersoy said, "The Speech is the page version of our nation's rising up against slavery, gaining its independence and building its own future with its own will. In his work, Mustafa Kemal Pasha revealed the conditions of the country during the War of Independence, and explained in detail, based on documents, the conditions under which the War of Independence and the modernization efforts that started after this war took place."
Minister Ersoy said that the Speech Collection project, prepared by the Atatürk Research Center Directorate in 2025, came to the agenda after the editions of the Speech in foreign languages were about to run out and said, "The Speech prepared in this direction has been made available on the internet platform nutuk.gov.tr. On our platform, it is possible to read the Speech in its original language in today's Turkish and English. While the data on the Speech A page on this website is presented in conjunction with each other, from text to voice, from voice to voice." "It is possible to switch from one language to another, from video to text again. It is possible to switch between different parts of the work, and text, sound and images can be used in a complementary whole. In addition to the maps attached to the Nutuk, there is also an interactive map showing the place names mentioned in the work," he said.
Referring to the opportunities that the platform will provide to researchers, Ersoy also stated that inter-platform connections have been created so that the expressions in the Speech texts can be researched through the Atatürk Encyclopedia, the Turkish World Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedic Turkish History Dictionary of the Turkish Historical Society and the Current Turkish Dictionary of the Turkish Language Association. Minister Ersoy stated that thanks to these connections, the reading experience will also turn into a research experience, and that users will be able to create a membership, save notes for each chapter, and access these notes from different devices.
Minister Ersoy noted that one of the most meaningful aspects of the project is that Speech will meet all segments of society in line with the principle of accessibility, and said, "With this understanding, we offer special forms of Speech prepared with 'audio', 'sign language' and 'Braille alphabet' to the public. Our visually impaired citizens will be able to read the Speech in Braille alphabet, our hearing-impaired citizens will be able to follow the work through the content prepared in sign language, and they can also use audio recordings." "The historical narrative of the Speech can be accessed through different ways," he said.
Minister Ersoy emphasized that opening Speech to the world is one of the primary goals of the project and said, "We are introducing our special editions prepared in 8 languages, including Turkish, English, German, French, Kazakh, Russian, Urdu, Persian and Turkmen, with new cover designs and presentations. These special editions, prepared with a common design approach in which different colors are used for each language, aim to both establish the work as a qualified publication and reach wider audiences internationally. Especially in Kazakh and Turkmen." "Translations are of particular importance in terms of Nutuk's accessibility in the Turkish world. With the availability of Nutuk in different languages and international access to these works, Türkiye's recent history will be able to be directly examined by people living in different geographies."
Minister Ersoy stated that the Nutuk Collection project will continue to be developed with new studies throughout 2027 and said, "For the 100th anniversary of the Nutuk, we will discuss the work from different aspects with the conference series we will organize in February-November next year. In addition, we continue our work to develop the Nutuk internet platform, prepare the mobile application and bring the work together with a virtual museum experience. With the Metaverse exhibition, users can experience the historical world of the Nutuk in a digital environment." "We will make a new contribution to scientific literature with editorial works titled 'Atatürk's Speech' on the 100th anniversary. Here, I would like to emphasize that technology is only a tool for us. We use the opportunities offered by technology to strengthen the collective memory of our nation, develop historical awareness and make our cultural heritage more visible internationally."
