ALanguageIndependent states
Turkish language
The most widely spoken Turkic language, of the Oghuz branch; the official language of Türkiye and Northern Cyprus, written in the Latin alphabet since 1928.
Turkish belongs, with Azerbaijani and Turkmen, to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages, and mutual intelligibility among them is very high. It has more than 80 million speakers — in Türkiye, Northern Cyprus, the Balkans and Turkish communities in Europe.
Written Turkish developed in Anatolia from the 13th century, the time of Yunus Emre. In the Ottoman era Ottoman Turkish took shape — written in Arabic script and enriched with Arabic and Persian words — while the spoken language of the people stayed plainer.
On 1 November 1928 a new Latin-based Turkish alphabet was adopted. The Turkish Language Association, founded in 1932, worked hard to simplify the language and coin new words. Every 26 September, the day the first Turkish Language Congress opened, is celebrated in Türkiye as Language Day.
Sources
Updated: October 2, 2026