The International Organization of Turkic Culture or TÜRKSOY is an international cultural organization of countries with Turkic populations, speaking languages belonging to the Turkic language family.

The General Secretary of Türksoy is Sultan Raev, the former Minister of Culture of Kyrgyzstan and deputy General Secretary of Organization of Turkic States. Türksoy has its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey.

Name

TÜRKSOY was initially established as the Common Administration of Turkic Culture and Arts (Turkish: Türk Kültür ve Sanatları Ortak Yönetimi), and was later on renamed as International Organization of Turkic Culture. Its acronym nevertheless remained the same.

History

The organization has its roots in meetings during 1992 in Baku and Istanbul, where the ministers of culture from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan declared their commitment to cooperate in a joint cultural framework. Türksoy was subsequently established by an agreement signed on 12 July 1993 in Almaty.

In 1996, an official cooperation between Türksoy and UNESCO was established, involving mutual consultations and reciprocal representation.

Since its establishment, the Turkic Council has acted as an umbrella organization for Türksoy and a number of related organizations.

Member and observer states

As of 2022, Türksoy has six founding and eight observer members.

Türksoy Headquarters, Ankara

Members

Member stateOfficial language(s)Accession dateArea (km2)Demographics
AzerbaijanAzerbaijani199386,60091% Azerbaijanis, 3% Lezgins, 2% Russians, 1,5% Armenians, and others
KazakhstanKazakh, Russian19932,724,90064% Kazakhs, 24% Russians, and others
KyrgyzstanKyrgyz, Russian1993199,95177% Kyrgyz, 15% Uzbeks, 5% Russians, and others
TurkeyTurkish1993783,56270–75% Turks, 19% Kurds and 6–11% others
TurkmenistanTurkmen1993488,10085% Turkmens, 5% Uzbeks, 4% Russians, and others
UzbekistanUzbek1993448,92480% Uzbeks, 5% Russians, 5% Tajiks, and others

Observers

Observer stateOfficial language(s)Accession dateArea (km2)Demographics
Bashkortostan (Russian Federation)Bashkir, Russian1993143,60029% Bashkirs, 36% Russians, 24% Tatars, and others
Northern Cyprus (de facto)Turkish19933,33598% Turks, 0,5% Greeks, and others
Tatarstan (Russian Federation)Tatar, Russian199367,83652% Tatars, 39% Russians, and others
Khakassia (Russian Federation)Khakas, Russian199661,90013% Khakas, 79% Russians, and others
Tuva (Russian Federation)Tuvan, Russian1996170,50064% Tuvans, 32% Russians, and others
Găgăuzia (Moldova)Gagauz, Romanian, Russian19991,83282% Gagauz, 7,8% Moldovans, 4,9% Bulgarians, and others
Altai (Russian Federation)Altay, Russian2003206,16831% Altaians, 61,4% Russians, Kazakhs and others
Yakutia (Russian Federation)Yakut, Russian20033,062,10040% Yakuts, 60% Russians, Tatars and others

Activities

Since its establishment, Türksoy has been "carrying out activities to strengthen the ties of brotherhood and solidarity among Turkic peoples, transmit the common Turkic culture to future generations and introduce it to the world."

Activities and events include:

  • Gatherings of artists, photographers, painters, opera singers, poets, journalists, theatre, dance and music ensembles of the Turkic World
  • Monthly journal published in three languages
  • Publishing works written in various Turkic languages and dialects
  • Commemoration of artists, authors, poets and scholars in recognition of their valuable contribution to Turkic culture
  • Symposia and conferences covering topics on the common history, language, culture and art of Turkic peoples
  • Nevruz Day celebrations including concerts and events held in the UNESCO Headquarters in 2010, the United Nations General Assembly Hall in 2011, and various other countries including Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom.

Cultural Capital of the Turkic World

Every year, Türksoy selects one city in the Turkic world to be the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World". The chosen city hosts a number of events to celebrate Turkic culture.

The cities that have been awarded this title are:

Commemorative years

Since 2010, Türksoy has selected at least one figure from Turkic culture every year to dedicate their activities to.

YearPersonDescription
2010Zeki Velidi ToganBashkir historian, 120th anniversary of his birth
2011Ğabdulla TuqayTatar poet, 125th anniversary of his birth
2012Nikolai KatanovKhakas Turkologist, 150th anniversary of his birth
Mirza Fatali AkhundovAzerbaijani writer, 200th anniversary of his birth
2013Mukan Tulebaev[tr]Kazakh musician, 100th anniversary of his birth
2014Magtymguly PyragyTurkmen poet
Toktogul SatylganovKyrgyz poet
2015Haldun TanerTurkish writer, 100th anniversary of his birth
Semyon KadyshevKhakas dastan writer, 130th anniversary of his birth
2016Yūsuf BalasaguniTurkic philosopher and poet, 1000th anniversary of his birth
2017Molla Panah VagifAzerbaijani poet, 300th anniversary of his birth
2018Gara GarayevAzerbaijani composer, 100th anniversary of his birth
Magzhan ZhumabayevKazakh poet, 125th anniversary of his birth
Chinghiz AitmatovKyrgyz writer, 90th anniversary of his birth
2019Imadaddin NasimiAzerbaijani poet, 650th anniversary of his birth
Âşık VeyselTurkish folk singer, 125th anniversary of his birth
2020Abai QunanbaiulyKazakh poet and intellectual, 175th anniversary of his birth
2021Yunus EmreTurkish Sufi and poet, 700th anniversary of his death
Nizami GanjaviPersian poet, 880th anniversary of his birth
2022Toktobolot Abdumomunov[ru]Kyrgyz writer, 100th anniversary of his birth
Fikret AmirovAzerbaijani composer, 100th anniversary of his birth
Süleyman ÇelebiTurkish sufi, 600th anniversary of his death
2023Temirbek Jürgenov[az]Kazakh poet, 125th anniversary of his birth
Baken KydykeyevaKyrgyz actress, 100th anniversary of her birth
Mehmet Akif ErsoyTurkish poet, 150th anniversary of his birth
Al-BiruniPersian scientist born in modern-day Uzbekistan, 1050th anniversary of his birth
İsmet GüneyNorthern Cypriot painter, 100th anniversary of his birth
2024Magtymguly PyragyTurkmen poet and philosopher, 300th anniversary of his birth (2nd commemoration)
2025Bakhtiyar VahabzadehAzerbaijani poet, 100th anniversary of his birth
Nurgisa Atabayoğlu Tilendiyev[kk]Kazakh conductor and composer, 100th anniversary of his birth
Atai Ogonbaev[ky]Kyrgyz composer, 125th anniversary of his birth
Münir Nurettin SelçukTurkish composer, 125th anniversary of his birth
Aşık KenziNorthern Cypriot folk singer, 230th anniversary of his birth
2026Ziya GökalpTurkish writer, 150th anniversary of his birth

Funding

Türksoy is funded by contributions paid by individual member states, local governments, universities and NGOs.

Related organizations

The Organization of Turkic States, the Turkic Academy and the Foundation of Turkic Culture and Heritage are organizations which TÜRKSOY works in coordination with. TÜRKSOY also carries out cooperation activities with the UNESCO, the ISESCO and the International Foundation for the Humanitarian Cooperation (IFESCCO) of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

As part of the XV International Tashkent Film Festival "Pearl of the Silk Road", the "World Turkic Filmmakers Forum" was held, at which it was decided to create the Union of Cinematographers of the Turkic World. The head of the Cinematography Agency of the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan, Firdavs Abdukhalikov, was elected the chairman of the organization.

List of secretaries-general

No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Polad BülbüloğluAzerbaijan19942008
2Düsen Kaseinov[tr]Kazakhstan29 May 200831 March 2022
3Sultan Raev[tr]Kyrgyzstan31 March 2022incumbent

Leaders of member states

Notes

External links

  • (in English)