Aktau city of Kazakhstan, a member of Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB), which was elected as the “Cultural Capital of the Turkic World” in 2025 with the unanimous vote of the Ministers of Culture of the Turkic World, hosted the opening events held on April 5, 2025.
Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan Aida Balayeva, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Serdar Çam, Minister of Culture, Information and Youth Policies of Kyrgyzstan Mirbek Mambetaliyev, Deputy Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Murad Huseynov, Deputy Minister of Culture of Turkmenistan Nursahet Shirimov, State Commissioner and Deputy of the Government of Hungary Peter Hoppal and Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) Sultan Raev attended the opening ceremony.
Delivering the opening speech, Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan Balayeva read out the congratulatory message of President of Kazakhstan Kassym Jömert Tokayev on the election of Aktau as the “Cultural Capital of the Turkic World”.
The opening ceremony, held under the open sky on the shores of the Caspian Sea, brought together about 1400 artists from all over the Turkic world on the same stage. The ceremony, which featured concerts, folk dance performances and traditional presentations, was watched by about 30 thousand people.
Visitors from abroad had the opportunity to experience the common culture and traditions of Kazakhstan and Turkic peoples, get acquainted with the historical heritage of the region, traditional handicrafts and the local way of life in the ethno-village “Darhan Dala”, specially built for this ceremony.
Nearly 30 large-scale international events are planned to be organized this year in Aktau, which was declared TURKSOY’s “2025 Cultural Capital of the Turkic World” with the opening ceremony.
With a calendar of events ranging from traditional music concerts to theater and cinema festivals, from youth gatherings to opinion and cultural forums, Aktau aims to bring to light the cultural diversity of the Turkic world and pass it on to future generations.
Aktau took over the title of “Cultural Capital of the Turkic World” from the Turkmen city of Anev last year.
