According to Shain Mustafayev, President of the Turkic Academy, a unified alphabet is crucial for ensuring the cultural unity of the Turkic world. He highlighted the academy’s major achievement this year — the approval of a 34-letter unified alphabet project. Mustafayev stated that this step marks a significant milestone in facilitating communication and cultural integration among Turkic peoples.

Mustafayev explained that the desire to create a unified alphabet is not new for the Turkic peoples. In 1926, the Turkology Congress held in Baku and the language reforms initiated by Atatürk in Turkey paved the way for a transition to the Latin alphabet. However, in 1939, this process was halted, and most Turkic nations were forced to adopt the Cyrillic alphabet. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the concept of a unified alphabet has been frequently discussed.

In 2022, an important step was taken in Bursa when the Turkic States Organization decided to establish a commission to develop the unified alphabet. Working with the Turkish Linguistic Society and other specialized institutions, the Turkic Academy held meetings, including one in Baku in September this year, where the 34-letter alphabet project was approved. The project is now under review by the parliaments of participating nations.

Mustafayev emphasized that the unified alphabet was designed to represent the phonetic richness of all Turkic languages, allowing those who have transitioned to the Latin alphabet to adapt it to their specific linguistic needs.