12.07.2026 12:41
The lower house of Uzbekistan's parliament has approved a draft law aimed at completing the transition to the Latin alphabet and sent it to the Senate. If the regulation becomes law, the letter combinations o', g', ch, and sh will be replaced with ö, ğ, ç, and ş respectively. This aims to finalize the transition to the Latin alphabet, which began in 1993 and has been ongoing for 33 years.
Another critical stage has been left behind in Uzbekistan's transition to the Latin alphabet.
The lower house of parliament approved a bill proposing changes to the alphabet and submitted it to the senate for approval. Once the regulation passes the senate and is approved by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the new alphabet will officially come into effect.
NEW LETTERS TO BE USED
With the new regulation, the Uzbek alphabet will consist of 28 letters. The three letter combinations currently used in addition to the existing 26 letters will be removed.
Accordingly, ö will replace o', ğ will replace g', ç will replace ch, and ş will replace sh.
OLD DOCUMENTS WILL REMAIN VALID
Authorities stated that documents issued in old letters will remain valid for a while to prevent financial burdens in public institutions and official transactions.
Thus, the aim is to avoid replacing all official documents simultaneously.
UNCOMPLETED FOR 33 YEARS
Uzbekistan decided to transition to the Latin alphabet in 1993 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and Latin alphabet instruction began in schools starting from the 1994-1995 academic year.
However, the process remained incomplete for years.
After President Shavkat Mirziyoyev assumed office in 2016, efforts to transition to the Latin alphabet gained momentum again.
FOURTH ALPHABET CHANGE IN 100 YEARS
If the law goes into effect, this change will mark the fourth major alphabet reform in Uzbekistan in the last 100 years.
The country switched from the Arabic alphabet to the Latin alphabet in 1929, from the Latin alphabet to the Cyrillic alphabet in 1940, and decided to return to the Latin alphabet in 1993.
With the new regulation, the aim is to complete the transition process that has been ongoing for approximately 33 years.