International Organization of Turkic Culture
Introduction 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 8 observer members.right=== Members ===Member stateOfficial language(s)Accession dateArea (km²)DemographicsAzerbaijani199386,60091% Azerbaijanis, 3% Lezgins, 2% Russians, 1,5% Armenians, and othersKazakh, Russian19932,724,90064% Kazakhs, 24% 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 (az) Khakas Turkologist, 150th anniversary of his birth Mirza Fatali Akhundov  Azerbaijani writer, 200th anniversary of his birth 2013  Mukan Tulebaev (tr) 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 2022 Toktobolot Abdumomunov (ru)  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 Temirbek Jürgenov (az)  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
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  Düsen Kaseinov (tr)  Kazakhstan  29 May 2008  31 March 2022 3  	Sultan Raev (tr)  Kyrgyzstan  31 March 2022  ''incumbent''
Leaders of member states  File:Ilham_Aliyev_2022_(cropped)(2).jpg| '''Republic of Azerbaijan'''Ilham AliyevPresident of AzerbaijanFile:Касым-Жомарт_Токаев_(19-08-2021).jpg| '''Republic of Kazakhstan'''Kassym-Jomart TokayevPresident of KazakhstanFile:Sadyr_Japarov_(2023)_(cropped)_2.jpg| '''Kyrgyz Republic'''Sadyr JaparovPresident of KyrgyzstanFile:President_Recep_Tayyip_Erdoğan_1_(cropped_2).jpg| '''Republic of Turkey'''Recep Tayyip ErdoğanPresident of TurkeyFile:Сердар_Бердымухамедов_(10-06-2022).jpg| '''Turkmenistan'''Serdar BerdimuhamedowPresident of TurkmenistanFile:Shavkat_Mirziyoyev_(2023-05-08).jpg| '''Republic of Uzbekistan'''Shavkat MirziyoyevPresident of Uzbekistan
References
Notes
External links *  Türksoy Website