The Oxford University Chabad Society was honoured to host the Turkish Ambassador to the United Kingdom Mr Yigit Alpogan for a Shabbat dinner and lecture on Friday on 31 October 2008. His Excellency Yigit Alpogan spoke on the subject of ’Turkey & Israel Relations’ as a special lecture dedicated to the late Jewish professor of Turkish language, Geoffrey Lewis.
Mr Alpogan addressed an audience of well over 100 people for half an hour, after which followed numerous questions. The event was chaired by Rabbi Eli Brackman, director of the Oxford University Chabad Society.
Geoffrey Lewis (19 June 1920-12 February 2008) was formerly Professor of Turkish at Oxford University and published numerous important and influential works including Teach Yourself Turkish and The Turkish Language Reform: a catastrophic success and Turkish Grammar. Lewis was the first professor of Turkish at Oxford University and introduced the stuy of Turkish to Oxford.
The significance of the life and work of Geoffrey Lewis was outlined before the ambassador spoke by Dr Michael Pentinsky who had personally known Lewis over a number of years as colleagues at the University of Oxford.
Mr Alpogan, who was formally introduced by the student president of the Oxford Chabad society, Babak Somekh, spoke for some 30 minutes on relations between Israel and Turkey, Turkey and the West, and the Iranian nuclear threat.