Turkey Replaces “Central Asia” With “Turkestan” in School Curriculum

Turkey has removed the term Central Asia from its school curriculum, replacing it with Turkestan as part of a broader effort to reinforce Ankara’s vision of the Turkic world. The change has been gradually introduced over the past year, Minister of Education Yusuf Tekin said, according to Turkish Minute.

Officials argue that the new terminology supports a more unified historical narrative centred on Turkic identity. The concept aligns with Ankara’s long-standing cultural and geopolitical framing of the region as part of a shared Turkic heritage.

However, Tekin did not explain how this approach applies to Persian-speaking Tajikistan — a country that is geographically in Central Asia but not part of the Turkic linguistic or cultural sphere. The role of Tajikistan within the newly defined «Turkestan» remains unclear.