Esteemed colleagues,

We are once again in preparations of National Gastroenterology Week. This preparation of ours is perhaps a nominee to become our most significant and special work since our establishment. While it has always been a week which served as a platform for all gastroenterologists to come together in big numbers, exchange knowledge, and explore innovations, this year we will approach it with even greater enthusiasm as we celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. As scientists with independent thinking and a progressive mindset, we aim to host a congress that reflects the dignity of our Republic. Moreover, this year marks the 40^th anniversary of NGW. We are proud to say that with every passing year starting from our establishment, we have raised the bar of our standards and achievements, fueled by an ever-growing momentum.

This year, the 40^th National Gastroenterology Week will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Serhat Bor, Head of the Department of Gastroenterology, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, and the 11^th Gastroenterology Surgery Congress will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Birol Bostancı, Chief of Gastroenterology Surgery Education and Administration, Sağlık Bilimleri University Ankara Bilkent City Hospital. Our congress secretaries are Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Kalkan, Professor of Gastroenterology, TOBB-University Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Dr. Yasemin Özin, Professor of Gastroenterology, Sağlık Bilimleri University Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kadri Çolakoğlu for the Gastroenterology Surgery congress. Our course coordinator is Prof. Dr. Tarkan Karakan from Gazi University and our assistant course coordinator is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Göksel Bengi from Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology. The congress president and organizing committee have been tirelessly working since taking office in order to introduce novel and innovative ideas to you. You will witness a multitude of fresh practices.

But this year, for the first time, a joint "Young Gastroenterologists Educational Meeting" between our society (TSG) and the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) is planned. You will witness that, in recent years, our relationship with UEG gradually strengthened and came to the point of holding a joint meeting thanks to our professors who has been representing us there over the years, as well as the studies and councils of new participants and young gastroenterologists. On the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, I would like to remind Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's words; "'The one who loves his homeland the most is the one who does his duty the best". Based on this quote, my interpretation is that the primary responsibility of scientists is to engage in scientific pursuits and to ensure that their ideas and opinions are acknowledged and valued globally the one who does that is the most devoted to their country. Henceforth, the primary objective of the Turkish Gastroenterology Association, particularly in recent times, has been to establish a significant presence on the international stage, utilizing every available avenue to achieve this end. In this congress, we aim to seize this opportunity not only to welcome and hear from international speakers, but also to facilitate the introduction of our young gastroenterologists, and we will provide this. We, now, want to attain recognition and be accepted for our research and publications. Our guiding principle is: "Actions speak louder than words", and we aspire to demonstrate this through concrete examples.

We are planning our scientific and social program in a way befitting the 100^th anniversary of our Republic and the 40^th anniversary of our congress, and we will share these with you. We will be presenting you interesting speakers and topics.

Whilst we were eagerly devising fresh initiatives for 2023, as the Turkish Society of Gastroenterology, we were shaken to core with the Kahramanmaraş and Elbistan earthquakes, which affected eleven cities and numerous of our citizens, including our colleagues, resulting in catastrophic loss and disruption to our daily existence. We were at a shock as to what to do in the face of our pain and losses that were so deeply felt and touched each and every one of us. Despite being initially halted by the profound suffering and loss that we have encountered, we have commenced our efforts to recuperate together, with the conviction that we will eventually overcome our wounds as one. Of course, it will take many years to recover. Maybe some of our losses will never be replaced. We will come together with the fact that trying to normalize is also a type of healing. In this respect, this congress will present us with the supreme occasion to establish a setting in which we can unite, experience the curative power of science, and exchange the warmth of companionship.

We invite you, as the enlightened individuals of a nation that has been bestowed upon us, to convene on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. Let us generate contemporary knowledge and science, and impart it to our colleagues in both the national and international community, so that we may entrust a bright future to the upcoming generations.

Prof. Dr. Dilek Oğuz
President of Turkish Gastroenterology Association
On behalf of the Board of Directors

Distinguished Members of the Gastroenterology Family

The 100^th Anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and our 40^th National Congress...

As the Organizing Committee, we take great pride and joy in having taken on the responsibility of this exceptional Congress, although it has also been accompanied by a slight sense of stress. Following we commenced our preparations right after being assigned the task and during the previous Congress, we came together almost every single week. In total, 15 online and 2 in-person meetings have been held and program’s outlines have been completed. All the associations and study groups submitted their topics and all of them have been placed into the main program. We are actively seeking to collaborate more closely with our inseparable colleagues in Gastroenterology Surgery and our discussions on this matter are currently underway.

We have been engaged in a close collaboration, particularly with the European Federation of Gastroenterology, and have invited 15 esteemed senior scientists from their organization to participate in our congress. With their contributions, we hope to provide greater opportunities for young gastroenterologists, particularly those under 40 years of age. Excitingly, we recently received news that our grant application to the federation has been approved, which means that UEG will be supporting the participation of 25 young gastroenterologists from Europe. We consider this to be a significant achievement for our congress, and we are proud of it.

Our efforts for transforming the Congress into an international event are in progress. We will share with you the details as soon as they become available.

Many innovations await you this year. I would like to summarize the ones that are ready under the below titles:

1. Live endoscopy procedures: We made the decision to shift this valuable training program to the Monday and Tuesday before the congress. Our primary reason for this change was to avoid disrupting the participation of our colleagues who would be performing the procedures, and to create more space for other applications, particularly endoscopy, during the congress. Previously, the program overlapped with several other events, resulting in lower attendance numbers or reduced participation in other programs. However, since live endoscopies are now broadcast online, viewers can watch from the comfort of their workplace or home. We have designed a new program that provides a more comprehensive theoretical approach, albeit shorter in duration, with a smaller number of participants. We extend our sincere gratitude to Antalya Training and Research Hospital Gastroenterology Clinic and Prof. Dr. Ayhan Hilmi Çekin for their support and organization of this event.
2. Pre-Congress Course Programs: Our course programs were organized on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning and divided into parallel programs.
   • What's new in Gastroenterology? A meeting was held to discuss the latest advancements in the field of Gastroenterology for 2022-2023, aptly titled "What's New in Gastroenterology?" This hall mainly comprised of speakers from the European Gastroenterology Association.
   • Gastroenterology for internal medicine and internal medicine for gastroenterology: This year's program included a special addition, "Gastroenterology for Internal Medicine and Internal Medicine for Gastroenterology," which was organized in collaboration with the Turkish Internal Medicine Specialty Association. The program consists of monothematic class meetings that will be of interest to both internal medicine specialists and gastroenterologists. Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to our course chairman, Prof. Dr. Birol Özer.
   • Young Gastroenterologists development program: In collaboration with UEG, we have developed a comprehensive program for the professional development of Turkish and European Young Gastroenterologists, known as the Young Gastroenterologists Development Program. This program will be led by members of the European Society of Gastroenterology and esteemed scientists from our country, with the added opportunity for young colleagues to present their work. Additionally, small workshops have been organized as part of this program.
   • Our companions: Two consecutive sessions have been arranged to cover topics of interest for our fellow travellers from Anaesthesiology, Rheumatology, Endocrinology, and Psychiatry.
3. Verbal Presentations: Although the number of scientific studies conducted in our country may not be extensive, we firmly believe that they are of high quality. However, we acknowledge that participation in national congress sessions remains disappointingly low. To address this issue, we have made significant improvements to verbal presentations, which we believe are a crucial component of the congress but often overlooked. These presentations have been allocated prime timeslots on the most important days of the event. Additionally, each meeting will culminate in an English-language "State of the Art" review talk. Another notable change is the consolidation of all basic and translational science research into a single session, which will be followed by an in-depth panel discussion on basic science topics. Finally, awards will be presented in two categories: clinical and basic science.
4. Multidisciplinary councils: Young gastroenterologists will present cases of patients during the councils, and colleagues from specialties like radiology or pathology will display images of the patient or discuss the case using scanned pathology preparations, similar to what we do in our daily practice. "We are inseparable" will be the title of the summary given by two experts in Gastroenterology and Gastroenterological Surgery at the end of each council.
5. “Mistakes”: The "mistakes" series, one of the successful studies of the European Federation of Gastroenterology, was translated into Turkish by the efforts of Prof. Dr. Kadir Bal and all the issues were published. We are proud to be the only country in the UEG to achieve this. This year, a special place has been allocated to the subject of "mistakes" in our congress and you will want sessions in which two different experts explain what mistakes are and how to avoid them after a case presentation that contains mistakes.
6. Basic endoscopy training for fellow subspecialty assistants: This year, recognizing that our subspecialty positions increased and many new friends were added to our ranks, we have planned a post-congress course in order to review basic endoscopy knowledge and techniques. We are looking forward to the participation of our fellow subspecialty assistants in this course, which will be held on Sunday. We ask the clinical chairs to support the participation of our fellow friends.

In this “very brief” foreword we have summarized the changes that have been put into practice. Stand by for other projects that are in planning phase...

We extend our gratitude to Prof. Dr. Dilek Oğuz and the Board of Directors of TGD for their support throughout all of our projects.

While we strive for perfection, we acknowledge that errors may occur, and hearts may unintentionally be hurt. However, we firmly believe in the words of Hacı Bektaş: "The true worth of a person is measured by the weight of their heart."

We are a family with a generous heart.

“I love my friends neither with my heart nor with my mind
Just in case heart might stop
Mind can forget
I love them with my soul
It neither stops nor forgets… (Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi)

Regards