Armenian linguist author of first Turkish Root Word Dictionary
Armenian-Turkish/Turkish-Armenian dictionary published by Turkey’s Linguistic Company (TDK) has been much paid attention. “TDK” director professor Shyuqru Haluq Aqalyny told “Hurriyet” that Armenian linguists, particularly, Hakob Martayan (Hakob Dilachar) had great contribution in Turkish language development. To the question whether they faced negative observations towards the publishing of the dictionary, he said:
“Armenians during the Ottoman Empire had active educational and cultural lives. Armenians who didn’t spare efforts in the development of Turkish language served to this language. Petros Qerestejyan was one of the authors of first Turkish Root Word Dictionary. Another Armenian Petros Zeqi Karapetyan was the author of a series of dictionaries. He was the author of 50 manuals of Turkish,” Turkish professor said.