International Organization of Turkic Culture

International Organization of Turkic Culture
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.
Members
Observers
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.
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.
List of secretaries-general
Leaders of member states
References
Notes
External links
Türksoy Website
International cultural organizations
International Organization of Turkic Culture