Ankara, 29 October. Former Kazakh culture minister Dusen Kaseinov has received the Alisher Navoi International Prize of the Organization of Turkic States, “For Contribution to the Unity of the Turkic World”: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented it to him in person at the summit in Ankara, the Ministry of Culture and Information said.
The ceremony took place on 29 October during the 13th summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). The decision was taken after a meeting of the OTS Council of Foreign Ministers, and Kaseinov’s candidacy was put forward by the Ministry of Culture and Information. The ministry calls the prize recognition of Kaseinov’s many years of work for cultural ties, humanitarian cooperation and the preservation of the Turkic world’s shared heritage. Kazinform reported the award on the evening of 1 November, three days after the ceremony.
Kaseinov is an Honoured Art Worker of Kazakhstan, a diplomat, professor and musician. In 2008–2022 he headed the International Organization of Turkic Culture, TURKSOY. In its greeting on Kaseinov’s 75th birthday, the OTS Secretariat described the organization as the main institution of cultural cooperation in the Turkic world and the “UNESCO” of Turkic peoples. Earlier, on 16 May 2022, soon after he handed over the post, OTS Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev received Kaseinov at the organization’s headquarters in Istanbul and gave him a certificate of appreciation for his services in preserving and promoting the cultural and historical heritage of Turkic peoples.
The prize itself is young. It was established in 2021 on the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan and first awarded in 2022, posthumously, to the Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov; in 2025 the laureate was the Turkish scientist and Nobel laureate Aziz Sancar. The Ministry of Culture’s statement does not mention the laureates of 2023 and 2024.
What it means: A prize of the OTS, established on Uzbekistan’s initiative, has gone to a Kazakh cultural figure, and it was presented by the president of the country that hosted the summit. A Kazakh ministry nominated the candidate, and the foreign ministers of the OTS states decided.
Background: The 13th OTS summit opened in Ankara on 29 October; we wrote the same day that the President of Azerbaijan was absent from the opening. Kazakhstan was represented by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
We have also reported that Ankara, Bishkek and Dushanbe were the main events of 29 October.
