Bishkek, Nov. 4, 2025. /Kabar/. The 43rd General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was held in the historic city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
According to the UNESCO press service, at the conference, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan proposed declaring December 15 "World Turkic Language Family Day." This proposal was supported by 21 other Member States. In accordance with this proposal, December 15 was designated "World Turkic Language Family Day."
The choice of December 15 is particularly significant. On December 15, 1893, Danish scholar Wilhelm Thomsen announced that he had deciphered the alphabet of the Orkhon inscriptions, one of the oldest written records of the Turkic language. This date is considered a turning point, indicating the deep roots of the Turkic language family and its shared cultural heritage.
The foundation for this important decision was laid on October 7, 2025, at the 12th Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States, held in Azerbaijan.
At the summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his wish for December 15 to be declared "World Day of the Turkic Language Family" at the 43rd UNESCO General Conference, scheduled to begin on October 30, 2025, in Uzbekistan.
In his speech, Erdoğan emphasized that in order to keep pace with global advances in artificial intelligence and preserve cultural wealth, it is necessary to accelerate the development of a comprehensive Turkish language model. He also noted that Turkey had taken the first step toward a common alphabet among Turkic states. He presented the leaders of the Turkic states with a work about Chingiz Aitmatov and the Oguzname, printed in a common alphabet.
These events are seen as a crucial step for the future of the Organization of Turkic States. They also directly contribute to the development of the Turkic language in line with the demands of the digital age and its transformation into a common language of communication across a vast territory.
The organization noted that declaring December 15 "World Day of the Turkic Language Family" will increase the international visibility of the shared cultural and linguistic heritage of the Turkic world and help the Turkic language expand its influence as a cultural, scientific, and digital force.