Order of Work Glory (2010) TÜRKSAV Service Award (2015) KİBATEK Prize Süleyman Brina Prize
Todur Zanet (sometimes rendered Fedor Ivanoviç Zanet, first name also Feodor, Fiodor, Todor, or Tudor; Russian: Фёдор Иванович Занет, Fyodor Ivanovich Zanet; born June 14, 1958)[1] is a Gagauz and Moldovan journalist, folklorist and poet, one of the most prominent contributors to Gagauz literature and theater. He editor-in-chef of Ana Sözü newspaper, which cultivates the Gagauz language, and has written the original anthem of Gagauzia. His activity as a journalist began under Soviet rule, and first peaked during the Perestroika years, when he became involved with the Gagauz nationalist movement.
Often vocal in his opposition to Russophilia, Zanet has criticized authorities for neglecting the Gagauzes' history of resistance to cultural assimilation. He favors cultural links with Turkey and has pursued cultural dialogue with Moldovan and, beyond, Romanian culture. Additionally, in his work as a folklorist and filmmaker, Zanet has reinforced links between the Gagauzes and other Turkic peoples of the Balkans and Ukraine. He is the recipient of several Turkish awards for his contribution to preserving the Oghuz languages and culture, as well as holding Moldova's Order of Work Glory.
Biography
Zanet was born as a Soviet citizen in Congaz, Moldavian SSR, which he jokingly refers to as "Europe's largest village"; his parents were peasants.[2] His first work in the republican media dates back to 1972.[3] From 1976 to 1981, he attended the Moldova State UniversityPolytechnic Institute, and in 1987–1990 the Marxist–Leninist University of the Communist Party of Moldova, while also editing the show Bucaan Dalgasında on Radio Moldova.[1] Zanet's contribution to the nationalist cause includes the poem Vatan ("Motherland"), which in 1986 was put to music by Mihail Colsa, who included this and other songs by Zanet in his 1995 repertoire, Turcular korolar.[4]
In August 1988, at the height of the Perestroika liberalization, Zanet founded Ana Sözü, in an effort to resist the Russification of Gagauzia and standardize Latin spelling.[5]Ana Sözü's attempt relied instead on Turkification: "This newspaper much criticized for its language. Its editors, like many Gagauz intellectuals, had attended Turkish language courses in Turkey and used words and phrases that the average Gagauz reader could not easily understand".[6] During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Zanet, "one of the most respected Gagauz men of culture",[7] wrote the original anthem of Gagauzia, officially adopted in July 1990[1] and later replaced by Colsa's Tarafım. He also continued to work in Moldova during the standoff between Gagauz nationalists and PresidentMircea Snegur. In 1993, Moldova 1 staged his translation of Jean Racine's Bajazet, retrospectively seen as a seminal moment in the history of Gagauz theater.[8]
With Gagauzia consolidated as an autonomous region within independent Moldova, Ana Sözü became an organ of the regional administration (Bakannık Komiteti), before going independent. It also received funding from the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency, and was distributed free of charge within Gagauzia.[9] Government sponsorship, and the fact that it was put out from the Moldovan capital, Chișinău, decreased its informative value, at a time when the Gagauz press was being criticized for its political uniformity.[9]
Zanet served as Ana Sözü's editor for most of its history, with a hiatus between 1994 and 1999; he has also founded Kırlangıç ("Swallow"), a literary magazine aimed at a young readership.[10] An admirer of the "Gagauz renaissance" leader, Mihail Ciachir,[11] Zanet is noted for his plays Açlık Kurbanları ("Hunger Victims") and Beciul vrăjit ("Enchanted Cellar"), staged by the Ciachir National Theater in Ceadîr-Lunga.[8] He has also published, in 2010, an anthology of poetry and folklore, Gagauzluk: kultura, ruh, adetlär, used as a record of Gagauz in Turkology and comparative linguistics.[12] It is supported by a documentary film, which has records of Zanet's contacts with Ukrainian Gagauz, Bulgarian Turks, and other related groups, but also reports conversations about proper Gagauz between Zanet and his parents.[13]
By 2010, Zanet had become a critic of the Gagauz administration, headed by GovernorMihail Formuzal. He claimed that, during Faruk Çelik's arrival at Chișinău International Airport, Formuzal had assaulted Gagauz journalists, himself included.[3] Zanet was also critical of the Russophile trend in Gagauz politics, favoring instead a closer cooperation with Turkey. He criticizes the Gagauz for "not knowing their own history", referring to the starvation of the Gagauz under Joseph Stalin; Russia, he claims, "has assassinated us."[14] In 2014, Zanet accused both the Bakannık Komiteti and the government of Moldova of wishing to do away with Gagauz identity. He noted that Formuzal's administration was a return to Russification: "Look around: everything is in Russian".[15] Zanet has challenged Formuzal's confrontational stance toward Moldova's Pro-Europeanism, insisting that the two entities, Gagauzia and Moldova, had no quarrel with each other.[7] He is also opposed to Formuzal's replacement, Irina Vlah, whom he accused of wishing to dominate local media through the Gagauz Radio Television, and of fostering Russophiles.[14]
In addition to pioneering Gagauz literature, Zanet writes in Romanian: already in 2003, writer Anatol Măcriș introduced him as one of the most important Gagauz authors, "most of whom speak Romanian and translate some of their works in Romanian."[16] In 2010, Moldovan President Mihai Ghimpu inducted Zanet into the Order of Work Glory, citing his "merits in fostering literature, contribution to the affirmation of national spiritual values, and prolific activity in the press".[17] Also that year, Zanet received the Moldovan Writers' Union Cultural Relations Award, shared with Leo Butnaru.[18] Pointing to the impact of "200 years of Russian propaganda" in ensuring Gagauz loyalties, Zanet encouraged Gagauz youth to learn Romanian, but has spoken out against the proposed unification of Romania and Moldova, and fears Romanianization.[14] He is noted for having translated into Gagauz the poem Luceafărul, by the Romanian classic Mihai Eminescu.[7][19]
A volume of Zanet's original poems came out in 2013 as Koorlaşmış Ateş ("Coiled Fire"), with Açlık Kurbanları published in Turkish and Azerbaijani versions.[11] Awarded the KİBATEK and Süleyman Brina prizes for his service to Turkic culture,[20] he became a recipient of the TÜRKSAV Service Award 2015, honoring his work in preserving the Oghuz languages.[21] In late 2016, he returned to Ukraine as part of an USAID program for folkloristics, announcing his discovery there of two new Gagauz songs.[22] Some of his own poems have been adapted into Gagauz pop songs, which were awarded prizes by the Bakannık Komiteti.[23] Zanet is married, with two daughters. The elder, Anna Zanet, is a mountaineer who, in 2010, has planted the flag of Gagauzia on Mount Elbrus.[24]
↑ Şahingöz et al., pp. 329–330; Şavk, pp. 130–132, 134
↑ Astrid Menz, "The Gagauz between Christianity and Turkishness", in Filiz Kıral, Barbara Pusch, Claus Schönig, Arus Yumul (eds.), Cultural Changes in the Turkic World, p. 128. Würzburg: Ergon-Verlag, 2007
1 2 3 Bogdan Stanciu, "Dosar Sinteza. Găgăuzia, buturuga mică. Mica mare complicație", in Sinteza, Nr. 8, September 2014, p. 134
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 from parts of Bessarabia, a region annexed from Romania on 28 June of that year, and parts of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an autonomous Soviet republic within the Ukrainian SSR.
Gagauzia or Gagauz-Yeri, officially the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (ATUG), is an autonomous territorial unit of Moldova. Its autonomy is ethnically motivated by the predominance in the region of the Gagauz people, who are primarily Orthodox Turkic-speaking people.
The Gagauz are a Turkic people living mostly in southern Moldova and southwestern Ukraine (Budjak). Gagauz are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians.
Comrat is a city and municipality in Moldova and the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia. It is located in the south of the country, on the Ialpug River. In 2014, Comrat's population was 20,113, of which the vast majority are Gagauzians.
Gagauz is a Turkic language spoken by the Gagauz people of Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey and it is an official language of the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia in Moldova. Gagauz belongs to the Oghuz branch of Turkic languages, alongside Azerbaijani, Turkmen, and Turkish. Gagauz is a distinct language from Balkan Gagauz Turkish.
The modern Gagauz alphabet is a 31-letter Latin-based alphabet modelled on the Turkish alphabet. Previously, during Soviet rule, Gagauz's official script was Cyrillic.
The Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate, also referred to as the Turkish Orthodox Church, is an unrecognised Orthodox Christian denomination, with strong influences from Turkish nationalist ideology.
Ceadîr-Lunga is a city and municipality in Gagauzia, Moldova.
Stepan Mikhailovich Topal was a Moldovan politician of Gagauz ancestry. From 1990 to 1995 he served as Governor (başkan) of Gagauzia.
The flag of Gagauzia has served as an official symbol of the Gagauz Territorial Unit since 1995, and is recognized as a regional symbol by Moldova. Popularly known as the "Sky Flag", it is a triband of blue-white-red, with a wider blue stripe, charged with three yellow stars arranged in triangular pattern. The overall symbolism is debated, but the stars may represent the three Gagauz municipalities within Moldova. The tricolor is reminiscent of the Russian flag, which is also popular in Gagauzia; the issue has created friction between Gagauz and Moldovan politicians.
Moldova–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between Moldova and Turkey. Currently, Turkey is represented through an embassy in Chișinău and is trying to establish a consulate in Comrat. On the other hand, Moldova has an embassy in Ankara and a consulate in Aydın, Belek, Bursa, Istanbul, Manisa and, since 2020, Alanya. Both countries officially established their diplomatic relations on 3 February 1992 after Turkey recognised the Moldovan declaration of independence on 16 December 1991.
The Commission for constitutional reform is a commission instituted in Moldova by acting President Mihai Ghimpu to adopt a new version of the Constitution of Moldova (1994).
Mihai Grecu was a painter from Moldova. According to Lonely Planet,
The biggest name in Moldovan painting is Mihai Grecu (1916–98), who co-founded the National School of Painting and was also a poet and free love advocate. His works range from the formally classical to a folk-styled art naive.
Suat İrfan Günsel is a Turkish Cypriot property developer, businessman and founder and 100% owner of Cyprus's private Near East University. In 2011, Forbes ranked him as the second richest person in Cyprus and the 1,140th richest person in the world with a net worth of $1 billion.
Literature of Moldova comprises the literature of the principality of Moldavia, the later trans-Prut Moldavia, Bessarabia, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, and the modern Republic of Moldova, irrespective of the language. Although there has been considerable controversy over linguistic identity in Moldova, the Moldovan and Romanian languages are virtually identical and share a common literary history. Moldovan literature, therefore, has considerable overlap with Romanian literature.
Mihail Ciachir was a Protoiereus and educator in the Gagauz language, and first publisher of Gagauz books in the erstwhile Russian Empire.
Mihail Formuzal is a Moldovan politician of Gagauz ethnicity, who was Governor (Başkan) of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia from December 2006 to March 2015.
Mihail (Mihai) Popșoi is a Moldovan politician and a member of the Moldovan Parliament since 24 February 2019. Since 8 June 2019 he has served as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. Since 10 September 2017, Mihail Popșoi has been the Vice President and International Secretary of the ruling Action and Solidarity Party of Moldova.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia, in Moldova, in April 2020.
Gagauzia, an autonomous region of Moldova populated by the Gagauz, an Orthodox Christian Turkic people; has strong bilateral relations with Turkey and acts as a bridge between Turkey, a Turkic country, and Russia, a Slavic and majority Orthodox Christian country.
References
Mehmet Şahingöz, Alper Alp, and contributors, Hamdullah Suphi ve Gagauzlar. Ankara: Türk Yurdu, 2016. ISBN978-605-9443-12-8
Ülkü Çelik Şavk, "Todur (Fedor) Zanet Gagauzluk ve Gagauzlara Adanmış Bir Hayat", in Tehlikedeki Diller Dergisi, Winter 2013, pp.130–141.
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