The Oghuz languages, a major branch of the Turkic language family, are spoken by more than 150 million people in an area spanning from the Balkans to China.

The term Oghuz language is applied to the Southwestern Branch of Turkic languages such as Turkish language, Azerbaijani language and Turkmen language which are mainly spoken in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iranian Azerbaijan, Turkmeneli and Syria. In the 8th century, the Oghuz tribes migrated to Central Asia from Altai Mountains, and then they started to spread out through Central Asia and Khwarezm to the Middle East and Balkans. With time, Oghuz name was replaced by the names Turkmen, Seljuk, Azeri, and later Ottoman Turk. Due to the fact that Oghuz Turks settled in different parts of Asia and Europe, the Oghuz language has had a number of different features and dialects, which led linguists to classify them under the Oghuz languages.

The Oghuz languages share a number of features that have led linguists to classify them together. Some of these features are shared with other Turkic languages; others are unique to the Oghuz family.

The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks (a linguistic term designating the Western Turkic or Oghuz languages from the Oghur languages) were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion. The name Oghuz is just the Common Turkic  word for "tribe". They are referred to as "Western Turks" because they moved west from other Turkic peoples after the Göktürk empire collapsed, and because the majority of the areas in which they inhabit today (except Turkmenistan and the Turkmen Sahra) are west of the Caspian Sea, while those referred to as "Eastern Turks" live east of the Caspian Sea. The founders of the Ottoman Empire were also Oghuz Turks.

In the 9th century, the Oghuz Turks from the Aral steppes drove the Pecheneg Turks, of the Emba region and the Ural River, toward the west. In the 10th century they inhabited the steppe of the rivers Sari-su, Turgai, and Emba to the north of Lake Balkhash of modern day Kazakhstan. A clan of this nation, the Seljuks, embraced Islam and in the 11th century entered Persia, where they founded the Great Seljuk Empire. Similarly, in the 11th century a Tengriist Oghuz clan—referred to as Uzes or Torks in the Russian chronicles—overthrew Pecheneg supremacy in the Russian steppe. Harried by another Turkic horde, the Kipchaks—a branch of the Kimaks of the middle Irtysh or of the Ob—these Oghuz penetrated as far as the lower Danube, crossed it and invaded the Balkans, where they were either crushed or struck down by an outbreak of plague, causing the survivors either to flee or to join the Byzantine imperial forces as mercenaries (1065).

Modu Chanyu (simplified Chinese: 冒顿单于; traditional Chinese: 冒頓單于; pinyin: Mòdú Chányú, sometimes also transcribed Modun and Maodun) was born c. 234 BCE was the fourth known emperor and founder of the Xiongnu Empire after he killed his father in 209 BCE. The years of his rule were 209 BCE to 174 BCE. He was a military leader under his father Touman, and later the Chanyu and king of the Xiongnu, centered in modern day Mongolia.

Once he had secured the throne, he established a powerful Xiongnu Empire by successfully unifying the tribes of the Mongolian steppes and hence posed an imminent threat to the Chinese Qin Dynasty. His Xiongnu Empire was one of the largest of his time – the eastern border stretched as far as the Liao River, the western borders of the empire reached the Pamir Mountains whilst the northern border reached Lake Baikal.

He was succeeded by his son Laoshang.

Several scholars have suggested that the reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation of mòdùn (冒頓) is /mək-twən/. Ultimately, the Old Chinese pronunciation might have represented the pronunciation of the foreign word baγtur, related to the Central Asian word baγatur (meaning "hero"). The etymology of the word is unknown, though the first syllable may be the Iranian word baγ (meaning "god" or "lord"), an element in many later Central Asian titles." The original origin may not be Iranian, as suggested by Clauson, who claims it an original Xiongnu name/title.

Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev (Azerbaijani: İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, born 24 December 1961, Baku) is the President of Azerbaijan since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party and the head of the National Olympic Committee. Apart from his native Azerbaijani, he speaks Turkish, English, French and Russian. Ilham Aliyev is the son of Heydar Aliyev, who was Azerbaijan's president from 1993-2003.

In 1977 Aliyev entered the Moscow State University of International Relations (MSUIR) and in 1982 continued his education as a postgraduate. In 1985 he received a PhD degree in history. From 1985-1990 Aliyev lectured at MSUIR.

In May 1994, Ilham Aliyev was appointed vice-president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). He participated as one of the key figures during the negotiations between Azerbaijani government and Western oil companies during the conclusion of new contracts now known as Contract of the century. The following year Aliyev was elected to the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and later became president of the National Olympic Committee (still incumbent) and head of the Azerbaijan delegation to the Council of Europe. In August 2003, two months prior to the presidential elections, he was appointed prime minister. In October, Heydar Aliyev, suffering failing health, stepped down as president and in a controversial move, appointed his son, an independent candidate, as his party's sole presidential candidate.