From May 27 to June 2, 2014, the Ataturk Research Center of the Supreme Council for Language, Culture and History under the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, Bayburt University, with the support of the Bayburt City Hall and the Governor of Bayburt Vilayet, organized an international conference "Ancient and Modern Bayburt" dedicated to the First World War. The conference was held in the ancient city of Bayburt, whose powerful citadel is known for the military events of both the beginning of the XIX and the beginning of the XX centuries. The conference was attended by more than 70 researchers from Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Georgia. One of the most important transit points on the Great Silk Road - the Bayburt fortress-is located in the north-eastern part of Anatolia. Its surroundings are bordered by the Black Sea vilayets of Trabzon, Gyumyushkhane, Erzincan, Erzurum, Rize. Due to the fact that there is no direct air connection to the city, the participants traveled through Istanbul to Trabzon, then 180 km along a picturesque mountain road. In one of the gorges, at a sky-high altitude, there is the Sumela Monastery, a monument of early Christian cave architecture, cut out of the rocks, now functioning as a museum. Bayburt was not chosen as the conference venue by chance. The city with its fortress dominating the mountain pass was a powerful fortified point located on the strategic route towards the Black Sea and deep into Anatolia. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the city and citadel witnessed bloody battles both during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829 and during the First World War. Traces of fighting are still being found in the surrounding area. Currently, Bayburt is a well-developed modern city, where a university of regional importance was established relatively recently. In recent decades, Turkey has formulated a state strategy for the development of provincial universities. Its goal is to spread higher education (especially in border are ... Читать далее