“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2025
2025
On November 6, 2024, the 11th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) took place in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, during which a new flag for the organization was adopted at Turkey's initiative. Turkish President Erdogan presented a special commemorative coin[1] to the heads of state, bearing the following famous phrase by Russian Tatar intellectual Ismail Gasprinsky, one of the slogans of Pan-Turkism: "Unity in language, thoughts, and actions."
Ismail Gasprinsky was one of the first to advocate for the linguistic unity of Turkic-speaking peoples. After the collapse of the USSR, Turkey began efforts to promote the adoption of a unified alphabet among Turkic-speaking countries. The first step was the symposium on modern alphabets of Turkic countries held in Istanbul in 1991. They discussed that the unified alphabet should be based on the Turkish Latin script.
To advance Turkological studies, the Turkic Academy was established in 2012 in Astana, with one of its key objectives being the development of a unified alphabet. After the creation of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), the academy came under its auspices, and the task of developing the unified alphabet was assigned to the Turkic World Common Alphabet Commission. During a meeting held in Baku on September 9–11, 2024, the Commission, which coordinated its work with the "Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language, and History," approved the text of the declaration on the unified Turkic alphabet. [2] The OTS adopted the "Common Turkic Alphabet," consisting of 34 letters that encompass the phonetic systems of Turkic languages, with the Turkish Latin-based script serving as its foundation. [3]
The Turkish Latin-based alphabet was first adopted by Azerbaijan in December 1991. In 1993, Uzbekistan announced the adoption of a Latin-based alphabet, but in practice, it continued to use Cyrillic script. Turkmenistan also declared its intention to transition to a Latin script in 1993, but this was not implemented in practice. For the Central Asian states, where Russian cultural and linguistic influence remains strong, adopting a new alphabet poses difficulties. Additionally, Turkic languages have their unique characteristics that complicate the adoption of a unified script. In 1995, Uzbekistan introduced a Latin-based alphabet consisting of 26 letters, and in 1999, Turkmenistan officially adopted a similar script. By 2000, the use of Cyrillic was officially discontinued in Azerbaijan. Among Turkic-speaking countries, only Kyrgyzstan continues to use Cyrillic. In this context, one of Turkey's primary goals has been to achieve the adoption of a common Turkic alphabet across all Turkic-speaking states.
Following the adoption of the unified alphabet, Turkey is focusing on the development and implementation of unified educational programs. Significant progress has already been made in this direction. Notably, the Turkic Academy has published textbooks titled "General Turkic History," "General Turkic Geography," and "General Turkic Literature," which have been incorporated into the educational curricula of Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. [4]
Thus, the adoption of the unified alphabet will serve as a foundation for the unification of Turkic languages and will stimulate the integration processes among Turkic-speaking states, further advancing Turkey's Pan-Turkist agenda.
[1] Amoyeva U., Doğan S., Памятная монета ОТГ отражает глубокие связи между тюркскими странами, 8.11.2024, Anadolu Ajansı․
[2] Turkish academy approves 34-letter common Turkish alphabet, Sep 11, 2024, Daily Sabah.
[3] Declaration on Common Turkic Alphabet, Baku, 11 September 2024․
[4] Textbooks on "Common Turkic History", "Common Turkic Literature", "Geography of the Turkic World"․