A new translation of the Koran

Lilia Kadirova introduces publisher Valery Basyrov.
The Koran in Ukrainian.
A well wisher greets Basyrov.
Basyrov is interviewed by the press outside the library.
A display of different editions of the Koran.
Yesterday (September 14, 2010), the Library hosted one of their frequent events in the Library’s Reading Room. The occasion for this event was a work-in-progress translation of the Koran into the Ukrainian language. Well-known Crimean writer and publisher, Valery Basyrov, presented the translation of the Koran he has been working on for a number of years. Though not yet finished, he has released ten advance copies and arranged this presentation in hopes of obtaining constructive feedback for the final translation.
Basyrov, whose mother is Polish and father Kazakhstan Tatar and whose grandfather was an imam, told about his impetus for the translation of the Koran into Ukrainian. Though not a speaker of Arabic which is the original language of the Koran, he has studied many translations of the Koran in Russian and Polish languages over the years and has attempted to create an accurate translation of the Koran into the Ukrainian language. At this event he gathered writers, representatives of the Mufti of Crimea, and scholars of the Koran to show them his efforts and to listen to their comments and suggestions.
Present at the event was the writer Risa Fazil who translated the Koran into Crimean Tatar, the Deputy Mufti of Crimea Eider Bey Ismailov, the chairman of the Ukrainian Information Center who expressed confidence that the translation will be welcomed by the Ukrainian community, a representative of the Crimean Tatar Educators’ Association, journalists, and others. All of them expressed their comments and good wishes for Basyrov.
Deputy Mufti of Crimea Eider said that the Ukrainian community is in need of a translation of the Koran into the Ukrainian language, that Islam is a religion for all people, regardless of nationality or language.
The Library prepared a display of different editions of the Koran in Crimean Tatar, Arabic, and Russian languages.
Though my very poor Russian and nonexistent Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian prevented me from understanding much of what was being said (this description is mostly taken from a Library press release), I nevertheless did grasp the essential reason for the event—the pending translation of the Koran into Ukrainian—and was grateful to be present at what I perceive to be a welcome expansion of an influential sacred text.