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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