Investigation of mother tongue education of the member countries of the Organization of Turkic States in the context of language policies

Language is an important concept that affects the society to which it belongs in many ways. The realisation of social reconciliation and progress, the formation of a bond of unity among the individuals who make up the nation, and the establishment of a bridge between the past and the present of societies so that they do not forget their roots are ensured by language. The importance of language in social life has enabled it to take place as one of the most fundamental elements in the context of policies for states. In this context, states develop language policies with different aims and effects. These policies can be determined under the influence of domestic or foreign institutions and individuals. In this respect, the aim of this study is to examine the mother tongue education of the member countries of the Organisation of Turkic States in the context of language policies based on the importance of Turkish language, culture and education, which is seen as an integral part of these. Within the framework of the related purpose, the research was conducted in accordance with the qualitative research method. Scientific studies, information obtained from the pages of the official institutions of the relevant countries, laws that can be considered in the context of language and language policy, the discourses of state administrators and the data of the relevant ministries of the countries were taken as the data source of the research. The analysis of the data was carried out in accordance with the descriptive analysis technique. When the mother tongue education of the member countries of the Organisation of Turkic States is examined in the context of language policies, it is seen that many laws have been enacted on this issue since the years they gained their independence, and studies have been carried out in mother tongue education according to the nation state understanding. These studies can be listed as alphabet changes, nationalisation and following current approaches in mother tongue teaching, as well as the policies of state administrators, public, press and media institutions towards national consciousness and mother tongue. In this regard, it can be said that Turkey has undergone a different process than other Turkic states, and the effects of different factors are also seen in other countries. The reason for this situation is that Turkey's independence has not been interrupted, and it has implemented more decisive, uncompromising and clear policies on the letter revolution and language reform compared to other Turkic states. On the other hand, with the exception of Kyrgyzstan, in all other post-Soviet member states, the process of transition to the Latin alphabet, which is considered important in order to ensure common communication, has been initiated. However, the fact that the Soviet assimilation policies are still effective even though they have relatively decreased today, the multi-ethnic structure of the countries, the diversity of official schools, and a number of political and economic reasons negatively affect the processes of nation-building and the development of mother tongues in these states. In this framework, the results for each country are evaluated separately and various recommendations are presented by making comparisons. Keywords: Turkish education, mother tongue, language policies, Organization of Turkic States.