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 (), 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.

Members Member stateOfficial language(s)Accession dateArea (km2)DemographicsAzerbaijani199386,60091% Azerbaijanis, 3% Lezgins, 2% Russians, 1,5% Armenians, and othersKazakh, Russian19932,724,90071,5% Kazakhs, 14,4% Russians, and othersKyrgyz, Russian1993199,95177% Kyrgyz, 15% Uzbeks, 5% Russians, and othersTurkish1993783,56270–75% Turks, 19% Kurds and 6–11% othersTurkmen1993488,10085% Turkmens, 5% Uzbeks, 4% Russians, and othersUzbek1993448,92480% Uzbeks, 5% Russians, 5% Tajiks, and others

Observers Observer stateOfficial language(s)Accession dateArea (km2)Demographics (Russian Federation)Bashkir, Russian1993143,60029% Bashkirs, 36% Russians, 24% Tatars, and others (de facto)Turkish19933,33598% Turks, 0,5% Greeks, and others (Russian Federation)Tatar, Russian199367,83652% Tatars, 39% Russians, and others (Russian Federation)Khakas, Russian199661,90013% Khakas, 79% Russians, and others (Russian Federation)Tuvan, Russian1996170,50064% Tuvans, 32% Russians, and others (Moldova)Gagauz, Romanian, Russian19991,83282% Gagauz, 7,8% Moldovans, 4,9% Bulgarians, and others (Russian Federation)Altay, Russian2003206,16831% Altaians, 61,4% Russians, Kazakhs and others (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: 2012: Astana, Kazakhstan 2013: Eskişehir, Turkey 2014: Kazan, Tatarstan 2015: Merv, Turkmenistan 2016: Shaki, Azerbaijan 2017: Turkistan, Kazakhstan 2018: Kastamonu, Turkey 2019: Osh, Kyrgyzstan 2020: Khiva, Uzbekistan 2022: Bursa, Turkey 2023: Shusha, Azerbaijan 2024: Anau, Turkmenistan 2025: Aktau, Kazakhstan

Commemorative years Since 2010, Türksoy has selected at least one figure from Turkic culture every year to dedicate their activities to. Year Person Description 2010 Zeki Velidi Togan Bashkir historian, 120th anniversary of his birth 2011 Ğabdulla Tuqay Tatar poet, 125th anniversary of his birth 2012 Nikolai Katanov Khakas Turkologist, 150th anniversary of his birth Mirza Fatali Akhundov Azerbaijani writer, 200th anniversary of his birth 2013 Kazakh musician, 100th anniversary of his birth 2014 Magtymguly Pyragy Turkmen poet Toktogul Satylganov Kyrgyz poet 2015 Haldun Taner Turkish writer, 100th anniversary of his birth Semyon Kadyshev Khakas dastan writer, 130th anniversary of his birth 2016 Yūsuf Balasaguni Turkic philosopher and poet, 1000th anniversary of his birth 2017 Molla Panah Vagif Azerbaijani poet, 300th anniversary of his birth 2018 Gara Garayev Azerbaijani composer, 100th anniversary of his birth Magzhan Zhumabayev Kazakh poet, 125th anniversary of his birth Chinghiz Aitmatov Kyrgyz writer, 90th anniversary of his birth 2019 Imadaddin Nasimi Azerbaijani poet, 650th anniversary of his birth Âşık Veysel Turkish folk singer, 125th anniversary of his birth 2020 Abai Qunanbaiuly Kazakh poet and intellectual, 175th anniversary of his birth 2021 Yunus Emre Turkish Sufi and poet, 700th anniversary of his death Nizami Ganjavi Persian poet, 880th anniversary of his birth 2022 Kyrgyz writer, 100th anniversary of his birth Fikret Amirov Azerbaijani composer, 100th anniversary of his birth Süleyman Çelebi Turkish sufi, 600th anniversary of his death 2023 Kazakh poet, 125th anniversary of his birth Baken Kydykeyeva Kyrgyz actress, 100th anniversary of her birth Mehmet Akif Ersoy Turkish poet, 150th anniversary of his birth Al-Biruni Persian scientist born in modern-day Uzbekistan, 1050th anniversary of his birth İsmet Güney Northern Cypriot painter, 100th anniversary of his birth 2024 Magtymguly Pyragy Turkmen poet and philosopher, 300th anniversary of his birth (2nd commemoration) 2025 Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh Azerbaijani poet, 100th anniversary of his birth Kazakh conductor and composer, 100th anniversary of his birth Kyrgyz composer, 125th anniversary of his birth Münir Nurettin Selçuk Turkish composer, 125th anniversary of his birth Aşık Kenzi Northern Cypriot folk singer, 230th anniversary of his birth 2026 Ziya Gökalp Turkish 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. Name Country of origin Took office Left office 1 Polad Bülbüloğlu Azerbaijan 1994 2008 2 Kazakhstan 29 May 2008 31 March 2022 3 Kyrgyzstan 31 March 2022 incumbent

Leaders of member states

References

Notes

External links

Türksoy Website