Dear compatriots! I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, congratulate you on the Uzbek Language Festival, widely celebrated in our country on October 21.

Our native language, in the history of which there have been many trials, is undoubtedly our greatest national value and spiritual wealth.

We consider increasing the role and importance of the Uzbek language in the country as the state language, its development on the basis of modern requirements, to be the most important factors in the growth of national self-awareness, preservation of national identity, and ensuring our prosperous future. Thanks to our practical efforts, the use of the state language in the life of society is expanding, it is becoming a real mirror of the soul of the people.

What gives us special pride is that in recent years the Uzbek language has been increasingly heard at authoritative international forums, including from the rostrum of the United Nations, which also contributes to the growth in the number of people around the world seeking to learn our native language.

Dear compatriots!

On this joyful day, speaking about the work to improve the status of the Uzbek language, one of the ancient and richest languages in the world, we also outline new important tasks for the future.

First of all, it should be noted the productive activities of the Department for the Development of the State Language of the Cabinet of Ministers, improving the quality of office work in the state language in all areas, including the achievement of positive results in its active use in the information and communication sphere.

As you know, in the study and development of any language, strengthening its theoretical and methodological foundations is of primary importance. In recent years, an important step in this direction has been the release of more than 40 fundamental publications, such as “Explanatory Dictionary of the Uzbek Language”, “Encyclopedia of Alisher Navoi”, “Encyclopedia of Zakhiriddin Muhammad Babur”, encyclopedic dictionary “Philosophy”, “Legal Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan”, “ Islamic Encyclopedia”, “Spirituality: Dictionary of Basic Concepts”, “Pedagogy: Encyclopedia”, “Dictionary of Historical Terms”, “Dictionary of Literary Studies”, “Dictionary of Legal Terms”.

Along with this, it is worth noting the serious work on creating a national electronic corpus of the Uzbek language and Uzbek applications of software products, popularizing the Uzbek language and ensuring its worthy place on the Internet, developing and implementing programs for teaching the state language and editing texts.

The country is expanding the training of personnel with higher education in the field of Uzbek language and literature, and the number of scientific research is growing. Currently, 33 higher educational institutions graduate such specialists. Classes in the discipline “Uzbek language and literature” are taught here by more than 7 thousand teachers, candidates and doctors of sciences, professors.

If in 1992–2012, that is, within twenty years, 730 scientific papers were defended in this specialty, then in the last ten years alone – 792.

Employees of ministries, departments and organizations regularly improve their knowledge of the norms and rules of the Uzbek literary language at the Center for training and advanced training on the basics of office work in the state language at the Tashkent State University of Uzbek Language and Literature named after Alisher Navoi. Hundreds of foreign citizens study with great interest the basics of our native language and national culture at the “Uzbek School” organized at the university. An important aid in this is the Uzbek-Chinese, Uzbek-English, Uzbek-French, Uzbek-German, Uzbek-Arabic, Uzbek-Persian dictionaries and phrasebooks published in recent years.

Work continues to improve our alphabet, based on the Latin script. I think we need to carefully study all the proposals and recommendations on this issue coming from the population, the public, discuss them, reconsider them again, and only after that submit a corresponding bill to parliament.

Dear friends!

We consider the development of the state language in connection with the development of the leading foreign languages of the world, languages and cultures of representatives of different nations living in our country.

Currently, education in the republic is conducted in 7 languages. The 1,453 active media outlets and hundreds of websites publish materials in Karakalpak, Russian, Kazakh, Tajik, Turkmen, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, English, German and other languages.

In order to strengthen the principles of equality, friendship and tolerance in Uzbekistan, we will consistently continue to work to ensure the rights of citizens of different nationalities in the field of language.

Dear compatriots!

At the beginning of the last century, our ancestors, the Jadids-enlighteners, guided by the noble idea of “Unity in language, thoughts, actions,” accomplished a tremendous amount of work, a spiritual feat in the name of the freedom of our people, their introduction to modern knowledge and sciences, professions and culture.

Today, such unifying goals, national unity and harmony are more important for us than ever. In these very difficult and troubling times, only by relying on these values will we be able to firmly defend our national interests, in particular, to ensure the careful preservation and enrichment of our native language, its transformation into a means of modern thinking in such important areas as science, economics, education, medicine, information and communication sphere, diplomacy and others, its development in accordance with the dynamics of general progress, strengthening the authority of the Uzbek language in the international arena.

As our outstanding poet Erkin Vakhidov said: “The native language is a national treasure. Consequently, the responsibility for the development of language should be a common one, a matter not only of linguists, but of the entire nation,” and we must always remember this.

Taking this opportunity, I express my sincere gratitude to all compatriots, true patriots, connoisseurs and friends of the Uzbek language who selflessly work in this area.

Dear compatriots!

Once again, I sincerely congratulate you, all our people, on the Uzbek Language Festival, I wish good health, happiness, peace and prosperity to your families.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev,

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

material from the site yuz.uz