Turkic states reach agreement on common 34-letter alphabet

ISTANBUL

Seeking to strengthen understanding and cooperation among the world’s 170 million Turkic people, the international bloc of Turkic states on Wednesday agreed on a proposal for a common 34-letter alphabet.

“As a result of this dedicated work, a proposal for a Common Turkic Alphabet consisting of 34 letters was agreed upon. Each letter in the proposed alphabet represents different phonetic sounds found in Turkic languages,” the Turkic Academy Organization of the Organization of Turkic States said in a statement.

The proposal was agreed upon at the third Turkic World Common Alphabet Commission meeting held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

The common Turkic alphabet project, drawing from the Western Roman alphabet, was first proposed by scholars in 1991, it said.

The creation of the common Turkic alphabet fosters "mutual understanding and cooperation among Turkic peoples," while safeguarding their linguistic heritage, it added.

Praising the “invaluable contributions” of the Organization of Turkic States and the commission members, the statement called on all institutions concerned "to effectively support the implementation of the proposed Common Turkic Alphabet."

The Turkic Academy was established in 2012 by Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan as an international organization under the Turkic bloc. Its goal is to coordinate research on the language, literature, culture, and history of Turkic peoples and to assess the contributions of Turkic civilization to global civilization using indigenous sources.

Established under the Turkic Academy in collaboration with the Organization of Turkic States, the Turkic World Common Alphabet Commission held its first meeting in May 2023, and its second meeting this May.

Founded in 2009 as the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, the Organization of Turkic States includes member states Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, while Hungary, Turkmenistan, and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are observer states.