Piri Reis's World Tour Continues in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!

Within the framework of the 2009 International Kâtip Çelebi Year events program, accepted and declared by UNESCO upon the initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the ninth international edition of the exhibition organized by the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies (MEDAM) in commemoration of his 400th birth anniversary, "From Pirî Reis to Kâtip Çelebi: The Ottoman View of the World through Maps" , was opened in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil, on Saturday, 29 May 2010, at 16:30 local time by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Ertuğrul Günay.

Organized in cooperation with Candido Mendes University within the framework of the 2010 Alliance of Civilizations meeting held in Rio de Janeiro by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, the exhibition was attended by former President of Portugal and High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations Jorge Sampaio, Rector Prof. Dr. Candido Mendes, and many academics and guests.

Coordinated by Prof. Dr. Bekir Karlığa and conducted by Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kaçar, the exhibitions have so far been held abroad at California State University, San Bernardino in the United States and at UNESCO's Salle Miro in Paris, France, and in Türkiye in Istanbul and Ankara as well as Bilecik, Mardin, Diyarbakır and Batman. Due to the great interest it has received, the exhibition period has been extended to include 2010. Indeed, the exhibition opened in Washington, D.C. on 13-18 April was held in grand style with the participation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Türkiye, Mr. T. Erdoğan. In addition, two consecutive exhibitions were held in Damascus and Aleppo, Syria, and one in Riga, the capital of Latvia. Drawing on Ottoman maps and centered on Piri Reis and Kâtip Çelebi, who made great contributions to Ottoman geography and cartography, the exhibition presents the Ottoman view of the world and seeks to introduce Turkish cultural values on international platforms in an original way.