Organization of Turkic States

Cultural · OTS

The Turkic World Common Alphabet Commission agreed a Latin script of 34 letters at Baku in September 2024. The Nakhchivan Agreement, signed on 3 October 2009, opens accession to Turkic speaking states and observer status to any other state. It sets the venue of each annual summit by the English alphabetical order of the parties' official names, and rotates the Secretary-General down the same list.

Questions about OTS

Which countries are in the Organization of Turkic States?

The catalogue files the countries listed on this page, which covers both the parties to the Nakhchivan Agreement and the states seated as observers. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Turkey signed at Nakhchivan on 3 October 2009. Uzbekistan acceded and was recorded as a full member at the Baku summit of 15 October 2019. Hungary and Turkmenistan hold observer status, granted in 2018 and on 12 November 2021.

Why is Hungary in a Turkic organisation?

As an observer rather than a party. Article 22 of the Nakhchivan Agreement opens accession to Turkic speaking states, and Hungarian belongs to the Uralic family, so that route is closed. Article 16 opens a second one: observer status may be granted to states, international organisations and international fora on a procedure set by the Rules of Procedure. The declaration of the Baku summit of 15 October 2019 already calls Hungary the Observer State and records a representation office opened there on 19 September 2019.

What was the Turkic Council, and when did the name change?

The same body. The founding treaty establishes the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, shortened in its own declarations to the Turkic Council. The first numbered paragraph of the declaration of the eighth summit, at Istanbul on 12 November 2021, decided to change that name to the Organization of Turkic States. The treaty itself was not reopened and still carries the older title, so both names appear in documents that are current.

What is the common Turkic alphabet?

A proposal, agreed by the Turkic World Common Alphabet Commission at Baku between 9 and 11 September 2024, for a Latin script of 34 letters. The commission had met at Astana on 29 May 2023 and at Baku on 6 May 2024 before that. Its announcement invites the relevant institutions to support implementation, which leaves each member to legislate its own script: Turkish letters were fixed by Law No. 1353 of 1 November 1928, Kazakhstan decreed a Latin alphabet of 32 letters in 2017, and Kyrgyz is written in Cyrillic.

Does membership rule out other alliances?

No. Article 19 of the Nakhchivan Agreement states that it shall not affect the rights and obligations of the parties under other international treaties they belong to, and the member records show the range that covers. Hungary joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Kazakhstan joined the Eurasian Economic Union on 29 May 2014 and Kyrgyzstan on 23 December 2014. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on 26 April 1996.

Sources

Nakhchivan Agreement on the Establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States · Organization of Turkic States. The treaty text: purposes, the organs, the English alphabetical rotation in Articles 5 and 10, observers in Article 16, working languages in Article 17, accession in Article 22, and the depositary and signatures in Article 23.
Nakhchivan Agreement on the establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States · Treaty record. Conclusion on 3 October 2009, entry into force on 17 November 2010, the five authentic texts, and registration with the United Nations Secretariat by Turkey on 2 July 2012.
Declaration of the Seventh Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States · Baku, 15 October 2019. Uzbekistan becoming a full member on the tenth anniversary of the agreement, the joint statement on its accession, Hungary as the Observer State, and the representation office opened on 19 September 2019.
Declaration of the Eighth Summit of the Organization of Turkic States · Istanbul, 12 November 2021. Paragraph 1 changes the name, paragraph 2 adopts the Turkic World Vision 2040 and the road map for 2022 to 2026, paragraph 3 greets Turkmenistan as an observer state.
Samarkand Declaration of the Ninth Summit of the Organization of Turkic States · Samarkand, 11 November 2022. Paragraph 7 welcomes observer status for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; paragraph 13 records Hungary's standing as an observer state.
Declaration of the Sixth Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States · Cholpon-Ata, 3 September 2018. The summit at which Hungary's observer status was taken up, with Hungary and Uzbekistan attending as guests of the host.
Announcement on the Common Turkic Alphabet · International Turkic Academy. The third meeting of the Turkic World Common Alphabet Commission at Baku from 9 to 11 September 2024, the agreed proposal of 34 letters, and the earlier meetings at Astana and Baku.
On the transfer of the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script, Decree No. 569 · Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan. The decree of 26 October 2017, the approved alphabet of 32 letters, the transition set to 2025, and the amending decree No. 637 of 19 February 2018.
TÜRKSOY, Joint Administration of Turkic Culture and Art · Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye. The founding agreement signed by the ministers of culture at Almaty on 12 July 1993, the secretariat at Ankara, and the later observer members that are not sovereign states.
Security Council resolution 541 (1983) · United Nations Security Council, 18 November 1983. The call upon all states not to recognise any Cypriot state other than the Republic of Cyprus.