BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 29. Mexico City
hosted a conference titled “The Turkic Language Family: From the
First Written Texts to the Modern Era” on January 28, 2026, jointly
organized by the embassies of Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and Kazakhstan
in Mexico, along with the Yunus Emre Institute Turkish Cultural
Center, Trend
reports.
The event was organized on the occasion of World Turkic Language
Family Day and brought together diplomats, academics, and cultural
figures. Speaking at the conference, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Mexico, Seymur Fataliyev,
emphasized the importance of a shared language as an inseparable
part of culture and a unifying factor among peoples. He described
as a landmark development the decision taken during the 43rd
session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) General Conference in Samarkand to designate
December 15 as World Turkic Language Family Day, noting that it
represents a significant step toward recognizing the Turkic
language as an integral element of universal cultural
diversity.
Fataliyev said Azerbaijan had supported the initiative to
preserve, develop, and promote the Turkic language family
internationally from the very beginning. Referring to President
Ilham Aliyev’s statement that “our family is the Turkic world,” the
ambassador said this thesis reflects both a sense of belonging and
responsibility, highlighting unity based on shared history,
cultural memory, and values. He stressed that promoting the
richness of the Turkic language family globally requires more than
the declaration of a single day and called for sustained, practical
efforts and a systematic approach to language diplomacy.
Türkiye’s Ambassador Murat Selim Esenli and Kazakhstan’s
Ambassador Almurat Turganbekov also addressed the conference,
saying the establishment of World Turkic Language Family Day
creates new opportunities for strengthening ties among their
countries and opens the way to a brighter future for the Turkic
world, united by common history and culture. They also underscored
the importance of cooperation within the Organization of Turkic
States in preserving and promoting the Turkic language.
Professor Mehmet Necati Kutlu, who delivers lectures on Turkic
language and culture at the Yunus Emre Institute, spoke about the
Orkhon-Yenisei inscriptions as the earliest written sources of the
Turks, their decipherment by Danish scholar Vilhelm Thomsen, the
development of Turkic alphabets, the geography of Turkic-speaking
peoples, and shared vocabulary among Turkic languages.
The event continued with a question-and-answer session and was
attended by representatives of Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, parliament, the diplomatic corps in Mexico, and the
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
World Turkic Language Family Day is celebrated annually on
December 15 and was officially recognized by UNESCO in November
2025. It honors the cultural heritage of over 200 million Turkic
speakers and commemorates the 1893 deciphering of the Orkhon
Inscriptions, the earliest written records of the Turkic language.
The day aims to promote linguistic diversity, strengthen unity
among Turkic-speaking nations, and preserve shared heritage,
stemming from a proposal by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Türkiye, and Uzbekistan.
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