TÜRKSOY was initially established as theCommon Administration of Turkic Culture and Arts (Turkish:Türk Kültür veSanatlarıOrtakYönetimi), and was later on renamed as International Organization of Turkic Culture. Its acronym nevertheless remained the same.[1]
The organization has its roots in meetings during 1992 inBaku andIstanbul, where the ministers of culture fromAzerbaijan,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Uzbekistan,Turkey, andTurkmenistan declared their commitment to cooperate in a joint cultural framework. Türksoy was subsequently established by an agreement signed on 12 July 1993 inAlmaty.[4]
In 1996, an official cooperation between Türksoy andUNESCO was established, involving mutual consultations and reciprocal representation.[5]
Since its establishment, theTurkic Council has acted as an umbrella organization for Türksoy and a number of related organizations.[6]
Since its establishment, Türksoy has been "carrying out activities to strengthen the ties of brotherhood and solidarity among Turkic peoples, transmit the common Turkic culture to future generations and introduce it to the world."[21]
Activities and events include:
Gatherings of artists, photographers, painters, opera singers, poets, journalists, theatre, dance and music ensembles of the Turkic World
Monthly journal published in three languages
Publishing works written in various Turkic languages and dialects
Commemoration of artists, authors, poets and scholars in recognition of their valuable contribution to Turkic culture
Symposia and conferences covering topics on the common history, language, culture and art of Turkic peoples
Every year, Türksoy selects one city in the Turkic world to be the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World". The chosen city hosts a number of events to celebrate Turkic culture.[23][21]
The Organization of Turkic States, the Turkic Academy and the Foundation of Turkic Culture and Heritage are organizations which TÜRKSOY works in coordination with. TÜRKSOY also carries out cooperation activities with theUNESCO, theISESCO and the International Foundation for the Humanitarian Cooperation (IFESCCO) of theCommonwealth of Independent States.[1]
^"Organization Chart".Türk Keneşi. Retrieved20 March 2021.Turkic Council also functions as an umbrella organization for existing cooperation mechanisms such as the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY)...
^Russian:Международная организация тюркской культуры,romanized: Mezhdunarodnaya organizatsiya tyurkskoy kul'tury Turkish:Uluslararası Türk Kültürü Teşkilatı
1These are traditional areas of settlement; the Turkic group has been living in the listed country/region for centuries and should not be confused with modern diasporas. 2State with limited international recognition.