The opening program of the II. International Symposium on Social Sciences and Turkish Culture (SOBİTÜRK), organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Marmara University, was held on Wednesday, October 23, in the Dr. İbrahim Üzümcü Conference Hall at the Göztepe Campus.

In her opening speech for the symposium titled "Disaster," Prof. Dr. Sebahat Deniz, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, stated, "In this symposium, we aimed to present papers on various topics, including the disasters that have occurred in our country throughout history, their psychological, sociological, and demographic effects on individuals and society, the damage to wildlife, the destruction of cultural heritage, the reflection of disasters in literature and the fine arts, and disaster translation. With the papers presented, we hope to raise awareness regarding disasters, preventive measures, and solution proposals for the aftermath." Prof. Deniz concluded her remarks by wishing for a successful and beneficial symposium and expressing her gratitude to all contributors.

In his opening address, Prof. Dr. Erhan Afyoncu, Rector of the National Defense University, spoke to the participants about Istanbul's earthquake history. Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Engineering Professor Dr. Mustafa Kemal Tunçer shared his presentation on disaster management in his talk titled "Can Earthquakes Be Predicted?".

The three-day symposium included sessions that examined disasters from various perspectives, including sociological, psychological, literary, historical, economic, and administrative fields of social sciences.

The II. International Symposium on Social Sciences and Turkish Culture (SOBİTÜRK) concluded on Friday, October 25, with a closing and evaluation session in the II. Abdülhamid Hall of Dolmabahçe Palace.