Türkiye welcomes UNESCO declaration of Dec. 15 as World Turkic Language Family Day

By Serdar Dincel

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye on Monday welcomed UNESCO's declaration of Dec. 15 as World Turkic Language Family Day.

"This resolution, drafted by Türkiye and our brotherly and sisterly Turkic states, will further enhance collective efforts aimed at preserving the Turkic language – the common heritage of the Turkic world – and passing it on to future generations," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement came after UNESCO’s General Conference, at its 43rd session held Monday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, passed a resolution designating Dec. 15 as World Turkic Language Family Day, to be observed annually.

Declaration of the day in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, one of the ancient cities of the Turkic world, carries particular importance, the ministry said.

"As is well known, the renowned Turkologist Vilhelm Thomsen announced to the international scholarly world on 15 December 1893 that the Orkhon Inscriptions – discovered in 1889 and recognized as the earliest known written sources of the Turkic language – were written in Turkic," it added.

The historic inscriptions, from the early eighth century, were carved into two memorial steles erected by the Göktürks in the Orkhon Valley in what is now Mongolia.

“We wish a happy International Turkic Language Day to the Turkic world and to our friends who speak and learn Turkish,” said the ministry.

The ministry also extended, on the upcoming World Turkic Language Family Day, Ankara's congratulations to the Turkic world and "to our friends" who speak or learn Turkic languages.