TEHRAN -- Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar (1906-1988), the Iranian poet who also composed works in Azerbaijani, was commemorated during the Second Conference of Pioneers of the Turkic World, which was held in Ankara, Turkey on Thursday.

Turksoy, the International Organization of Turkic Culture, dedicated the second edition of the conference to Shahriar to celebrate his 110th birthday. 

Turksoy Secretary General Dusen Kaseinov and Azerbaijani scholar Elman Guliyev delivered speeches during the conference, which was attended by literati and students from Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Kaseinov called Shahriar a master of Persian poetry and said that he was the greatest representative of contemporary Persian classical literature, who often expressed his feelings in the Azerbaijani language.

Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, known as Shahriar, published his first book of poems in 1929, with prefaces by Persian literature scholars Mohammad-Taqi Bahar, Saeid Nafisi and Pejman Bakhtiari. 

Shahriar’s most famous Azari language poetry collection, “Heidar Babaya Salam” is dedicated to his birthplace, the village of Heidar Baba. 

His poems are mainly influenced by Hafez. “The Blessed Bird of Good Omen”, which is about Imam Ali (AS), is his other noteworthy credit.

Photo: Literati attend the Second Conference of Pioneers of the Turkic World at the International Organization of Turkic Culture in Ankara on February 16, 2017.

ABU/YAW