Uzbekistan’s Senate has approved the final version of the country’s Uzbek alphabet based on Latin graphics. This decision was announced on September 10 via the press service of the upper house of Parliament following the results of its 19th plenary session.
The new alphabet will include 28 letters and one apostrophe, compared to the previous system which comprised 26 letters and three letter combinations. The parliament stated that these changes are designed to promote the wider dissemination of the Uzbek language and facilitate its use in digital environments.
During the transition period, documents prepared under the old rules, securities, and banknotes still circulating will remain legally binding. Government agencies and organizations will also be permitted to continue using the older signage, designations, and symbols until the deadline is reached. Currently, Uzbekistan employs both Cyrillic and Latin writing systems simultaneously.
The transition of the Uzbek language to Latin script began in 1929 when it replaced Arabic. In 1940-1942, the Cyrillic alphabet was introduced within the Uzbek SSR. After gaining independence, the republic initiated a return to the Latin alphabet: Parliament enacted relevant legislation on September 2, 1993. The full transition process has taken more than three decades.
Additionally, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev presented his report at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting on September 1 in Russian. Leaders of Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan attended the event. Notably, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was the only speaker to use his national language.
