Ceremony held in Ashgabat to mark World Day of Turkic-speaking Families

A ceremonial event was held at the Cultural Center under the Embassy of Turkey in Turkmenistan to celebrate the declaration of December 15 as the World Day of Turkic-speaking Families. Diplomats, media representatives, and residents and guests of the capital attended the event.

The initiative is based on the historic decision of the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand. Proposed by the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it has received broad international support. The event aims to promote the common linguistic, cultural, and historical heritage of Turkic peoples.

Turkey’s Ambassador to Turkmenistan Ahmet Demirok emphasized that this new international holiday will serve as an important tool for strengthening friendly relations and fostering cultural exchange. According to UNESCO, Turkic languages (including Turkmen, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek) are the native languages of more than 200 million people worldwide, covering approximately 12 million square kilometers.