TÜRKSOY was initially established as the Common Administration of Turkic Culture and Arts (Turkish: Türk Kültür ve Sanatları Ortak Yönetimi), and was later on renamed as International Organization of Turkic Culture.

[4] In 1996, an official cooperation between Türksoy and UNESCO was established, involving mutual consultations and reciprocal representation.

[23][21] The cities that have been awarded this title are: Since 2010, Türksoy has selected at least one figure from Turkic culture every year to dedicate their activities to.

Türksoy is funded by contributions paid by individual member states, local governments, universities and NGOs.

The head of the Cinematography Agency of the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan, Firdavs Abdukhalikov, was elected the chairman of the organization.