A meeting of the Heads of State of the OTS was held in ancient and at the same time modern Samarkand, under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The event was dedicated to the “New era of Turkic civilization: on the way to common progress and prosperity”.

The meeting was attended by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban.

The heads of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA), the International Turkic Academy and the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, as well as the Secretariat of this multilateral structure also attended the meeting.

Issues of a cultural and humanitarian nature were also considered at the Summit, in the coverage of which TURKSOY has a special place.

As is known, on October 30, 1992, Ankara hosted the First Summit of Turkic Speaking States, where the participants announced the establishment of political, economic, and, of course, cultural unity of the Turkic world.

The history of the OTS can be conditionally divided into several stages. The first stage is the creation in 1992 of the Summit of the Turkic-Speaking States, which became a symbol of the unity of the Turkic world and, following the results of nine subsequent convocations, evolved into the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkish Council), formalized in 2009 by signing the Nakhchivan Agreement. The Nakhchivan Declaration launched fruitful cooperation between the Turkic countries, promoted legal dialogue and set the tone for further integration processes within the organization.

The second stage was the renaming of the Turkic Council into the Organization of Turkic States in 2021 in Istanbul. The Istanbul Declaration contributed to the transformation of the Council into the OTS, turning it into a key, peace-loving actor in international relations, open to dialogue with third states and supranational organizations.

The third stage started yesterday in Samarkand. The Samarkand Summit is called upon to lay a new legal foundation for the centuries-old relations between the Turkic peoples, set the tone for a new constructive dialogue and raise their quality to a completely new, higher platform.

Practically from the first days of its formation, the organization carried out integration processes in the cultural sphere, as the most natural, based on ethnic, linguistic, historical and spiritual components.

The result of the enumerated relationship between these countries was the consistent establishment of institutional forms of interaction. In 1992, at meetings in Baku and Istanbul, the ministers of culture supported the idea of ​​a joint project. The fruit of this consensus was a landmark agreement signed in Almaty on July 12, 1993, on the establishment of the Joint Administration of Turkic Culture and Art – TURKSOY (in Turkish Türk Kültür ve Sanatları Ortak Yönetimi).

Almost immediately, the structure of the organization was developed, according to which there is one Permanent Council created by the ministers of culture of the member countries, one Periodic Coordinator and one Director General appointed by the General Council to manage all the activities of the organization. The capital of Türkiye, Ankara, was chosen as the center of activity.

Since 2009, TURKSOY has been a member of the Turkic Council, now the Organization of Turkic States.

Until 2015, the structure had 16 participants – in addition to 6 independent Turkic states, there were 10 more – the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Gagauzia as part of Moldova, as well as the Turkic-speaking nations of the Russian Federation.

Due to the cooling of Turkish – Russian relations, since the end of November 2015, the membership of TURKSOY has changed. The then Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky (2012-2020) sent a telegram to the heads of the republics of Altai, Bashkortostan, Sakha (Yakutia), Tatarstan, Tyva, Khakassia about the need to immediately stop contacts with the organization. This led to the fact that the Russian republics withdrew from the organization, while Bashkortostan and Tatarstan remained as observers.

The main goal of the members is a cooperation between the Turkic peoples for the preservation, development and transfer to future generations of the common tangible and cultural monuments of the Turkic peoples, a thorough study and protection of the Turkic culture, as well as its integration into the world cultural space.

It is worth noting that TURKSOY, regardless of the internal and external political course, state structure and orientation, cooperates in the culture of the Turkic-speaking countries. Every year it organizes meetings of artists, opera festivals, literary congresses and other forums, which have already become a traditional platform for the exchange of experience among cultural and scientific figures of the Turkic world.

Its contribution to the dissemination of the common heritage of the Turkic world – Navruz is also noteworthy. Thus, thanks to the activities of TURKSOY, Turkic peoples learned about this holiday of spring and the traditional new year in many parts of the world. Spring New Year celebrations, which were held with the participation of hundreds of artists from Turkic countries, were organized at the UNESCO Headquarters, the UN General Assembly Hall, as well as in Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and other countries.

Since its establishment, TURKSOY has been actively promoting such rare pearls of the Turkic civilization as the heritage of Dede Korkut, Manas, Nizami, Fuzuli, Yassawi, Kashgari, Balasaguni, Ulugbek, Navoi, Makhtumkuli, Abay. The cultural interaction of our peoples through the implementation of various cultural projects has stimulated research into the ancient and rich heritage of the Turkic world, its distribution in the world.

Many of these cultural programs also have a scientific and educational focus: the languages, multifaceted culture and art of the fraternal peoples have been presented more than once in books, collections and the TURKSOY magazine published in different languages; roundtable discussions and symposiums highlight their artistic and literary heritage.

TURKSOY, noting the special contribution to the treasury of culture, announces every year in memory of one or another outstanding figure of Turkic culture:

2010 – Year of Prof. Dr. Zeki Velidi Togan, the Bashkort scholar, in commemoration of the 120th anniversary of his birthday;

2011 – Year of Abdullah Tukay, the Tatar poet, in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of his birthday;

2012 – Year of the Azerbaijani playwright Mirza Fatali Ahundzade, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of his birthday, and the Khakas Turkologist Nikolai Katanov in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of his birthday;

2013 – Year of Mukan Tulebayev, the Kazak composer, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his birthday;

2014 – Year of Magtumguly Pyragy, the Turkmen philosopher and poet, in commemoration of the 290th anniversary of his birthday, and of Toktogul Satylganov, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of his birthday;

2015 – Year of Haldun Taner, the Turkish playwright, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his birthday and Simion Kadyshev, the famous Khakas author of legends, in commemoration of the 130th anniversary of his birthday;

2016 – Year of Yusuf Khass Hajib, the poet, scholar and philosopher, in commemoration of the 1000th anniversary of his birthday;

2017 – Year of Molla Panah Vagif, the famous Azerbaijani author, in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of his birthday;

2018 – Year of Chingis Aitmatov in commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of his birthday, Gara Garayev in commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of his birthday and Magjan Jumabay in commemoration of the 125th Anniversary of his birthday;

2019 – Year of Aşık Veysel in commemoration of the 120th Anniversary of his birthday and Imadeddin Nesimi in commemoration of the 650th Anniversary of his birthday;

2020 – Year of Abay Kunanbay in commemoration of the 175th Anniversary of his birthday;

2022 – Year of Suleyman Celebi in commemoration of the 600th Anniversary of his birthday, Azerbaijani composer Fikret Amirov on the 100th anniversary of his birthday, Kyrgyz artist Toktobolot Abdumomunov on the 100th anniversary of his birthday.

This international organization cooperates with official structures and organizations, charitable foundations, centers created for activities in culture and art and aimed at the states of the Turkic countries and communities.

The most authoritative among them is UNESCO, TURKSOY is even called the UNESCO of the Turkic-speaking countries. Fruitful cooperation between the two organizations began with the conclusion of a cooperation agreement concluded on June 8, 1996, in Istanbul. This document includes cooperation in culture and art, education and science, which undoubtedly serves to preserve and enrich the historical and cultural heritage of the Turkic-speaking countries and peoples, increasing their intellectual and spiritual wealth.

In addition, meetings are held regularly at the level of ministers of culture of the participating countries, on the agenda of which the subjects of the history, culture and art of the Turkic world are fruitfully considered.

The cultural ties of these peoples and states are developing and strengthening, filling multifaceted cultural cooperation with new content. TURKSOY saturates the cooperation between close peoples with a new color, transfers the rich tangible and spiritual values ​​​​of the Turkic civilization and attaches them to the achievement of world culture.

I consider it expedient to finish my article with the words of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the first historic summit of the Organization of Turkic States:

“The Turkic world has an enviable great history, great ancestors and incomparable wealth. And I believe that the Turkic world has a great future. No doubt, we shall create this future together with our hardworking, magnanimous and noble people. Our Summit in the ancient city of Samarkand shall usher in a new stage of growth in the modern history of the civilization of the Turkic world”.

Azer Adygezalov,

Leading Researcher,

International Institute for Central Asia,

PhD in History of Science