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The conference titled “Iranşehr Between Rome and Turan: A History of Interaction in the Late Antique World,” organized by our university’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Eastern Languages and Literatures, and the Hafiz-i Shirazi Center for Applied Research on Iran, was held with the participation of researchers from both Turkey and abroad.

Prof. Dr. Touraj Daryaee, Director of the Center for Persian Studies and Culture and Chief Editor of Encyclopaedia Iranica—one of the internationally recognized figures in the field of Iranian history and civilization—delivered a comprehensive presentation at the conference on the political, cultural, and civilizational relations established by the Iranian region with the Roman and Turanian worlds during the Late Antique period. The program, conducted in English, attracted significant interest from academics, researchers, and students from various universities.

The opening address was delivered by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Koçak, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Istanbul Medeniyet University. In his remarks, Koçak emphasized the importance universities place on international academic collaborations and expressed his delight at hosting one of the world’s leading figures in the field of Iranian studies at the university.
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Alıcı, a faculty member at Ankara University of Social Sciences, served as the moderator of the conference. In his presentation, Prof. Dr. Daryaee assessed the historical development of Iranian civilization—with a particular focus on the Sassanid period—as well as its relations with the Roman Empire and the multifaceted networks of interaction it established with Central Asia. He also made important observations regarding the historical and cultural background of the concept of “Irānshahr.”

The conference, which drew intense interest from participants, continued with a question-and-answer session in which questions posed by academics and students were addressed. The closing remarks of the program were delivered by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Turgay Şafak, Chair of the Department of Eastern Languages and Literatures at Istanbul Medeniyet University and Director of the Hafiz-i Shirazi Center for Iranian Studies. Şafak thanked the speakers and participants for their contributions to the conference and stated that the center would continue to organize international academic events.

At the end of the program, certificates of appreciation were presented to Prof. Dr. Touraj Daryaee and Prof. Dr. Mehmet Alıcı in recognition of their contributions. The conference concluded with a group photo taken with the participants.