UNESCO marks first World Turkic Languages day

The UN cultural agency, UNESCO, is preparing to celebrate the first ever World Turkic Language Family Day on December 15, following a decision by UNESCO’s General Conference in Samarkand establishing the date as an annual observance.

The decision was adopted during the General Conference of UNESCO, held in Samarkand in November, according to an official UN statement, Caliber.Az reports.

UNESCO described the move as an important step toward promoting and recognising linguistic diversity, which it says enriches humanity’s shared cultural heritage.

The choice of December 15 carries strong historical significance. On this date in 1893, Danish linguist Vilhelm Thomsen announced the successful decipherment of the Orkhon inscriptions, among the oldest known written records of Turkic languages.

UNESCO noted that the Turkic language family—including Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkish, Turkmen, and Uzbek—is spoken by more than 200 million people across a vast region covering approximately 12 million square kilometers.

The initiative to establish World Turkic Language Family Day was jointly proposed by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan, and received the support of 21 countries.

By Sabina Mammadli