Ilber Ortayly, historian of Crimean Tatar origin, passes away in Turkey

The famous Turkish historian, writer, and professor Ilber Ortayly died at the age of 79. In recent days, he was in the hospital due to health problems.

This was reported by Qirim Media.

According to doctors, for five days the scholar was treated in the intensive care unit of a private clinic. Today his condition has deteriorated sharply, doctors connected him to a ventilator, but they failed to save the historian.

Turkish Minister of Health Kemal Memisoglu expressed his condolences over the death of the scholar. He noted that the country had lost one of its most prominent intellectuals and thanked the professor for his contribution to science and education.

Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Nariman Dzhelal also expressed his condolences. The diplomat emphasized that the historian's scientific heritage, books, and students will continue to influence the development of historical science for many years to come.

Ilber Ortayly was born on May 21, 1947, in the Austrian city of Bregenz to a Crimean Tatar family that emigrated to Turkey after leaving Crimea. He studied at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Ankara, and later continued his studies at the University of Chicago under the guidance of the renowned historian Halil Inalcik. He also studied at the University of Vienna, where he majored in Slavic and Oriental Studies.

For decades, the historian has taught at leading universities in Turkey, Europe, and the United States, including Ankara, Galatasaray, and Bilkent universities.

From 2005 to 2012, he was the director of the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul. During his academic career, Ortayly wrote more than 25 books on the history of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, and the region.

He devoted part of his research to events in the history of Azerbaijan, in particular the liberation of Baku from the Dashnak-Bolshevik occupation. In 2012, the scholar was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.

In January, a well-known oncologist and member of the Crimean Tatar national movement, Suleyman Dzhemilev, died in Kyiv. He was born in exile in a family of deported Crimean Tatars and devoted his life to medicine.

Анна Бальчінос