The First Turkological Congress held at the Ismailiyya Palace in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, from 26 February to 6 March 1926, is one of the most significant events that marked the beginning of a new stage of cultural integration of the Turkic peoples, including the people of Azerbaijan.
 
The congress was attended by 131 representatives and had 17 meetings. 38 reports on a total of 14 issues related to the history, language, alphabet, ethnogenesis, ethnography, literature, culture and other topics of Turks and the Turkic World in general were heard, discussed and many resolutions were adopted at the congress.
    
The meeting was chaired by Samad Agamalioglu, the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR, and the Presidium of the congress included: Samad Agamalioglu, Ruhulla Akhundov, Habib Jabiyev from Azerbaijan, as well as, a well-known orientalist-historian academician Vasily Barthold, academician Oldenburg, representative of the European scientists Professor Mensel, Nagovitsin from the Ministry of Public Education of the RSFSR, Professor Bekir Chobanzade, Professor Samoylovich, Beytursun from Kazakhstan, Barahov from Yakutia, Borozdin and Pavlovich from the Association of Oriental Studies, Galimjan Ibrahimov from Tatarstan, Idelguzin from Bashkortostan, Fuad Kopruluzade from Turkiye, Gorgmasov from Dagestan, Nahamov from Uzbekistan, Tunstanov from Kara-Kyrgyzstan, Berdiyev from Turkmenistan, Akchokrakly from Crimea, Aliyev Umar from the North Caucasus. In addition, on behalf of the delegation of Azerbaijan and other republics, Ali Bey Huseynzade, Bang, Mustafa Guliyev, Academician Marr, Lunacharski and Thomsen were elected honorary members of the Presidium of the Congress.
  
At the First Turkological Congress Azerbaijan was represented by the prestigious international delegation, composed of Samadagha Aghamalioglu, Farhad Aghazade, Ruhulla Akhundov, Hanafi Zeynalli, Habib Jabiyev, Mustafa Guliyev, Nikolay Ashmarin, Aziz Gubaydullin, Khalid Said Khojayev, Bekir Chobanzade, Jabbar Mammadzade, A. R. Zifeldt-Simumyagi, Artur Rudolfovich, Panah Gasimov, Museyib Ilyasov. , Jalil Mammadzade, Farid Khurshid, Hamid Sultanov, Mirza Davud Huseynov, Huseyn Musayev, Ahmad Pepinov, Ibrahim Rza Shabustari, Hasan Musayev and the only female representative of the congress, Ayna Sultanova.

At the First Turkological Congress, the following seven major problems of the Turkic languages were discussed and the relevant resolutions were adopted: 1. The issue of the alphabet; 2. Spelling problem; 3. Term issue; 4. Teaching-methodology issue; 5. Interaction and interference problems of related and neighboring languages; 6. Literary language problems of Turkic languages, including the issue of common literary language; 7. Ancestor language theory and historical problems of Turkic languages. 
   
Among the decisions taken by the First Turkological Congress, issues such as the common alphabet, the common literary language and common terminology were of particular importance.

One of the most important tasks and goals of the First Turkological Congress was the transition from the Arabic alphabet to the Latin alphabet. Azerbaijan was the first to realize this idea in the Turkic world. On January 1, 1929, Azerbaijan completely switched to the Latin alphabet. In accordance with the decision of the First Turkological Congress, along with other Turkic-speaking countries, the Republic of Turkey also adopted the Latin alphabet from that year. This transition played an exceptional role in eliminating the mass illiteracy of the people and strengthened the cultural ties between Turkic-speaking peoples.

Although the introduction of the new alphabet became particularly popular after the Congress, unfortunately it was stopped in 1940 due to political reasons. Later, the leading representatives of the Azerbaijani people did the best work towards the development of our language. 
         
The Azerbaijani language was one of the few state languages established by their country’s Constitution among the languages of the peoples of the former Soviet Union.
    
After the National leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, came to power, the development of our language acquired a new essence. The relevant decrees signed by the national leader Heydar Aliyev dated June 18, 2001 "On the improvement of introduction of the state language" and "On the establishment of the Azerbaijani alphabet and the day of the Azerbaijani language" dated August 9, 2001 are of great importance. All this is a logical continuation of the decisions of the Turkological Congress, which confirms the historical significance of those decisions and shows that they were emerged out of objective necessity.
 
The legal assessment of the First Turkological Congress at the state level was given after Azerbaijan regained its state independence. On November 5, 2005, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, signed a Decree on the 80th anniversary of this important historical event. According to that decree, an international conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the First Turkological Congress was held in Baku in 2006.

Ten years later, the 90th anniversary of the first Turkological Congress was celebrated at the state level. Thus, on February 18, 2016, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, signed a Decree on holding the 90th anniversary of the First Turkological Congress at the state level. In accordance with the decree, on November 14 and 15, 2016, an international conference dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the First Turkological Congress on "Common values and new challenges in the Turkological scientific and cultural movement" was held in the Presidium of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS).

The ideas and calls of the First Turkological Congress played an important role in the development of national spiritual values, national cultures and literature, and in the formation of scientific and cultural integration.  

Recommended literature:

1. Turan, Azər. XX əsr - fəryadın metafizikası / A. Turan ; red., ön sözün müəl. E. S. Akimova. - Bakı : Elm və təhsil, 2017. - 424 s.
2. Qasımov, Cəlal Əbil oğlu. Bəkir Çobanzadə : monoqrafiya / C. Ə. Qasımov ; baş red. F. Salayev ; Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Təhlükəsizliyi Xidmətinin Heydər Əliyev adına Akademiyası. - Bakı : DTX-nin Heydər Əliyev adına Akademiyasının nəşriyyatı, 2018. - 328 s.
3. Hacıyeva, Zemfira Əli qızı. Azərbaycanı tədqiq edən və öyrənən cəmiyyət (Tətəbbö) : Azərbaycanda elmin inkişaf tarixindən = Общество обследования и изучения Азербайджана : история развития науки Азербайджана / Z. Ə. Hacıyeva, N. A. Əliyarlı ; elmi red. S. H. Həsənov ; tərc. N. İ. Həmidov ; AMEA Rəyasət Heyəti. - Bakı : Elm, 2021. - 108 s.