Tbilisi Yunus Emre Enstitüsü held an interview on 18 December 2015 with the acclaimed Georgian author Dato Turashvili with best-selling books in Georgia, as part of promotion efforts for the book “Georgian Khatun” translated also into Turkish.

Event was attended by Turkish Ambassador to Tbilisi Zeki Levent Gümrükçü, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) Georgia Coordinator Mustafa Korkmaz and Georgia Turkish Businessmen Association President Kenan Yıldırım, Embassy officials, figures from business and art circles and Institute students.

Institute Director Zekeriya Gültekin stated that Georgian Khatun was a major supporter of scientific conversations and Sema ceremonies, and said “I hereby thank Dato Turashvili for bringing such a major historical figure to our day.”

Author Turashvili spoke about the book as follows: “I worked on reflecting the love between Georgian Khatun and Seljuk Sultan and its connection with Mevlana. I aim to reinforce the cultural bridge between Turkish and Georgian people with my book, and through literature. Georgian Khatun is a figure well-known both by Turkish people and Westerners. Unfortunately she has been forgotten in Georgia. With this book, I would like Georgian people and history to retrieve Georgian Khatun.” Author also spoke of a film project to be based on book “Georgian Khatun”.

Dato Turashvili marking that Turkey is the strongest and best ally country in the region for Georgia, pointed out that the cultural, political and economic relations between the two countries were interrupted due to wrong perception policies throughout the period in which Georgia was an “Iron Curtain Country”, however the process was reversed thanks to the steps taken recently.

At the end of the talk, Ambassador Gümrükçü presented Dato Turashvili with a Mevlana painting and an autography session was held for the readers in the event.