Minister Ersoy attended the Speech Collection Project Promotion Program held at the Atatürk High Institution of Culture, Language and History and shared the details of the project prepared by the Atatürk Research Center with the public.
Drawing attention to the historical importance of the Speech in his speech, Minister Ersoy stated that the work reveals our nation's struggle for independence and the will to determine its own future and said:
“The Speech is the reflection on the pages 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.”
Stating that the Speech reveals the historical march extending from May 19, 1919 to the founding of the Republic, Ersoy said that the Speech Collection Project was implemented with the responsibility of keeping this legacy alive and passing it on to future generations.
Ersoy stated that the project, prepared by the Atatürk Research Center Directorate in 2025, came to the agenda after the editions of Speech in foreign languages were about to run out, and noted that the study submitted to the Presidency of Strategy and Budget was accepted with the approval of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and included in the investment program.
THE SPEECH WILL NOW BE READ, LISTENED AND RESEARCHED
Stating that the Nutuk is made available to the public not only as a printed work but also through digital technologies, Minister Ersoy announced that the internet platform www.nutuk.gov.tr has been opened for access.
Ersoy explained that on the new platform, Nutuk can be read in its original language, today's Turkish and English, and in the ongoing stages of the project, Turkmen, Kazakh, German, French, Persian, Urdu, Russian and Spanish will be added to the system.
Referring to the features of the digital platform, Ersoy said that text, audio and video contents can be used in conjunction with each other; He explained that it is possible to switch from text to audio, from audio to video, from one language to another, and from video to text again.
Ersoy stated that it is possible to switch between different sections of the work, and that in addition to the maps attached to the Nutuk, an interactive map showing the place names mentioned in the work can also be accessed, and that users can see in which parts of the Nutuk the place names they have chosen are mentioned and can directly access the relevant sections.
Touching on the opportunities the platform will provide to researchers, Ersoy 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.
Ersoy stated that within the scope of the project, many contents, from historical events to scientific publications, from documents to photographs, were presented for research and analysis, and that the historical narrative of the work can be followed more closely with the "Today in Speech" and "Speech of the Week" sections.
Emphasizing that with all these features, Speech will no longer be a work that can only be read and passed over, Ersoy stated that the work will turn into a living source of information that is researched, examined, thought about and reunited with new generations.
OBSTACLES TO NUTUK ARE BEING REMOVED
Stating that one of the most meaningful aspects of the Speech Collection Project is accessibility, Minister Ersoy announced that special versions of the work for visually and hearing impaired citizens are also available to the public.
Ersoy explained the importance of this study with the following words:
"One of the most meaningful aspects of this project for us is that it will bring Speech to all segments of society in line with the principle of 'accessibility'. With this understanding, we also offer special versions of Speech prepared with 'audio', 'sign language' and 'Braille alphabet' to the public."
Stating that visually impaired citizens can read the Speech in Braille alphabet, and hearing-impaired citizens can follow the work through content prepared in sign language, Ersoy noted that the historical narrative of the Speech can be accessed in different ways through audio recordings.
Minister Ersoy said that the Braille edition, sign language videos and audio Speech contents prepared in three volumes are concrete examples of the inclusive approach adopted in the project.
SPEECH CROSSES BORDERS IN EIGHT LANGUAGES
Stating that opening the Nutuk to the world is one of the primary goals of the project, Minister Ersoy announced that special editions prepared in eight languages, including English, German, French, Kazakh, Russian, Urdu, Persian and Turkmen, were introduced in addition to Turkish.
Ersoy stated that different colors were used for each language in the prints prepared with new cover designs and boxed presentations, and that these publications, prepared with a common design approach, aimed to preserve the work in a qualified way and to reach wider audiences internationally.
Emphasizing that Kazakh and Turkmen translations, in particular, are of particular importance in terms of Nutuk's accessibility in the Turkish world, Ersoy said that Turkey's recent history can be directly examined by people living in different geographies, thanks to the compilation being introduced to readers in different languages and entering international circulation.
NEW PROJECTS FOR NUTUK'S 100TH ANNIVERSARY
Explaining that the Speech Collection Project will not be limited to the promotion in 2026, Minister Ersoy stated that new studies will be carried out during 2027, which is the 100th anniversary of the speech of the Speech.
Ersoy stated that the Nutuk will be discussed from different aspects in the conference series to be held between February and November next year, and said that the work's place in the history of the Republic of Turkey and its aspects that shed light on today will be evaluated in the conferences to be held in Ankara and important stops of the War of Independence.
Stating that efforts to develop Nutuk in a digital environment are continuing, Ersoy explained that the aim is to enrich the internet platform with new features, prepare a mobile application and bring the work together with a virtual museum experience.
Ersoy stated that with the metaverse exhibition, users will be able to discover the historical world of the Speech in a digital environment, and a new contribution to the scientific literature will be made with the editorial work titled "Atatürk's Speech on its 100th Anniversary".
Noting that bringing the Spanish Speech to readers in print and digital media will be one of the important stages of the work, Ersoy evaluated the place of technology in this project with the following words:
"I would especially like to emphasize here that technology is just 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..."
Emphasizing that the Speech is a work that illuminates the past as well as a strong historical legacy left to future generations, Minister Ersoy stated that it is their duty to preserve this heritage in its original form and to transfer it to future generations by taking advantage of the opportunities of the age.
Ersoy considered the Speech Corpus Project as an important part of this responsibility and thanked the Atatürk Research Center Presidency, the Atatürk High Institution of Culture, Language and History, and all his colleagues who contributed to the preparation of the corpus.
