TDK President Mert: “The Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan will not make any letter changes.”

The President of the Turkish Language Association (TDK), Prof. Dr. Osman Mert, stated that an agreement was reached on 34 letters by the Common Alphabet Commission of the Turkic World. TDK President Mert announced that contrary to news in social media and the press, no letters will change in Turkey.

The 3rd meeting of the Common Alphabet Commission of the Turkic World was held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, from September 9 to 11 in collaboration with the Turkish Academy and the Turkish Language Association. Following the meeting, an agreement was reached on a list of 34 letters. TDK President Prof. Dr. Osman Mert explained the details of the meeting and the importance of the agreement to an İHA reporter.

“The Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan will not make any letter changes”

Stating that the Common Alphabet Commission gathered in Baku, TDK President Mert indicated that an agreement was reached on a common alphabet after nearly 100 years. President Mert noted that some points regarding the commission’s consensus were misunderstood in society, saying, “For example, the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan will not make any letter changes. Our working method there was as follows: First, we determined the working principles and the general framework. In this meeting, every letter needed by each dialect – other than Azerbaijan and the Republic of Turkey – was determined and discussed separately for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Each letter was voted on separately and accepted unanimously. What we did here or what this commission did was not to adopt an alphabet of 34 letters. Such a thing is also not the case. What we did was create alphabets for Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek Turkish that consist mostly of the same letters. To meet their needs. However, no changes were proposed in the alphabets used by Azerbaijan and Turkish in Turkey during this work. The nice part for us is that the 29 letters we use are included in the alphabets of all dialects,” he said.

“A citizen from Anatolia will be able to read every writing and sign when he goes to Uzbekistan”

Emphasizing that the first condition for cultural unity is the unity in writing, Mert stated, “First of all, we will take the first step towards this. When a citizen from Anatolia goes to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, or Uzbekistan, he will be able to read every writing and sign there. Although the intelligibility of these dialects is different for us, the root words in Turkish are the same. Our fundamental words related to human and culture are also the same. Therefore, there will be a serious convenience in this regard, and this will definitely bring our peoples closer together and lead to beautiful developments in many areas, from the economy to various fields,” he said.

“Many areas, from education to economy, from politics to literature, will come closer in the Turkish geography.”

Stating that the aim of the acceptance of the Common Alphabet is to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among the Turkish peoples, Mert said, “With the accepted letters, many areas, from education to economy, from politics to literature, will come closer in the Turkish geography, and the ability to act together will increase.”
Mert remarked that this development is a step that will profoundly affect not only the Turkic world but also the future of the world and the region, expressing his belief that “from now on, the unity and solidarity in the Turkic World will strengthen and increase.”

“The common alphabet does not lead us to a common language”

Adding that language and alphabet are often confused, TDK President Mert noted that there are some who claim that a new common language will be constructed. Mert stated, “The common alphabet does not lead us to a common language. A common language is a different concept. And there is no such purpose as a common language. But we need a common communication language. This should not be confused. Just as English is an international language of agreement today, we also need a common communication language in the Turkic world today. One of these dialects should fulfill this function. However, there is no connection between this issue and the common alphabet. In other words, changing the alphabet does not mean changing the language,” he said.

Mert pointed out that there is a list of 34 letters reflected on social media and in the media, stating that the list represents the total number of accepted signs. Noting that there will not be a dialect alphabet using 34 letters, TDK President Mert said, “If you ask me whether there will be a 34-letter alphabet used by the Turkic dialects, the answer is no. This 34 letters is not an alphabet. In this meeting, we developed separate alphabets that will best meet the needs of Kazakh Turkish, Kyrgyz Turkish, and Uzbek Turkish. So now, 3 new alphabets have been proposed. However, 29 letters of these 3 alphabets are common. The others vary according to the number of phonemes. But let me insist on this. The list we see is not the alphabet of any dialect; there is such a misconception as far as I can see. The letters agreed upon are those on the list circulating in social media. But it is definitely not the alphabet of a country. It is the sum of the letters we all use. When creating the alphabets, the letters were selected from that list. In a language, only sounds that carry meaning-differentiating / phonemic value are marked in the alphabet. Therefore, there is no need to add a letter to the alphabets currently used by Turkish in Turkey and Azerbaijani Turkish. In other words, this does not mean that the Turkish Republics will use a new common alphabet with 34 letters,” he concluded.