Hakan Özdemir, Head of the Digital Technologies and Software Department at Üsküdar University and founder of the Turkish Languages User Group, participated in the 'Wikimedia Summit 2024' event organized by the Wikimedia Foundation. Özdemir, who participated in the event on behalf of the Turkish Languages User Group, was the only representative from Turkey to attend. The event brought together volunteer contributors to Wikimedia projects and experts from around the world. During the summit, which discussed how to develop and sustain open information sources accessible to everyone online, Özdemir shared his views.
Hakan Özdemir, founder of the Wikimedia Community Turkish Languages User Group and Head of the Digital Technologies and Software Department at Üsküdar University, also participated in the event held in Berlin, the capital of Germany.
“It further motivated me to protect our cultural heritage in the digital environment”
Hakan Özdemir, Head of the Digital Technologies and Software Department at Üsküdar University, emphasized that the Wikimedia Summit encourages intercultural cooperation and is a beneficial platform for expanding access to knowledge; “Here, we conducted intensive discussions on how to increase contributions to Wikimedia projects in various languages, including Turkish, and diversify content in these languages. This event further motivated me to facilitate access to information and protect our cultural heritage in the digital environment. As Turkey, and as Üsküdar University, by participating in such global events, we have once again seen the importance of supporting universal access to knowledge, and we are proud to contribute to this process.”
Özdemir was the sole representative from Turkey…
Özdemir, who was the only representative from Turkey to attend the summit, stated: “One of the most important agenda items of the event was the discussions on the draft charter named ‘Movement Charter’, which determines the governance principles and rules of the Wikimedia Foundation. As the sole representative from Turkey participating in this summit, I contributed to making the document richer and more inclusive by presenting my own perspective on this draft. This allowed us to better understand the needs and suggestions of communities from different languages and cultures.”