Turkey’s ruling AK Party has voiced support for Uzbekistan’s new alphabet regulation, a symbolic but politically useful step that could speed language alignment across the Turkic world and deepen Ankara’s soft-power reach in Central Asia.
Turkey backs Uzbekistan alphabet reform
AK Party Deputy Chairman and head of relations with Turkic states Kürşad Zorlu said Turkey welcomed the Uzbek Senate’s decision to adjust the Latin-based alphabet so it fits more closely with a proposed common Turkic script. The reform would replace 26 letters and three letter combinations with 28 letters and a single apostrophe, simplifying some characters that are difficult to write and use on computers.
The change matters because script standardization is more than a linguistic detail in the Turkic bloc. A more uniform alphabet can lower translation, publishing and digital infrastructure costs, make education materials easier to share and support closer commercial and cultural integration between Turkey and Uzbekistan, which has nearly 40 million people and sits at a strategic crossroads in Central Asia.
For investors and companies with exposure to Turkey, Uzbekistan and the wider Turkic corridor, the message is that political coordination is still expanding even where trade deals and infrastructure projects move slowly. A common script can improve cross-border branding, software localization, media distribution and administrative compatibility over time, particularly for firms active in education, telecoms, technology and logistics.
The reform also underlines President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s push to elevate Turkish influence among Turkic-speaking states. Zorlu said Erdoğan had already presented the first work prepared in the common alphabet to heads of state on Oct. 7, 2025, signaling that the initiative has moved from symbolism to state-backed policy.
The next test is whether Uzbekistan follows through with implementation across schools, public institutions and digital systems. If it does, the alphabet change could become one of the clearest practical markers of a broader political and economic alignment between Ankara and Tashkent.
| Entity | Gains | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey / AK Party | ▲Soft power in Central Asia | ▼Less influence if reform stalls |
| Uzbekistan government | ▲Easier language standardization | ▼Transition costs for institutions |
| Businesses in Turkic states | ▲Better cross-border compatibility | ▼Short-term adaptation burden |
| Legacy spelling systems | ▲None | ▼Reduced relevance |
