How are Turkish and Uzbek related within the Turkic language family?

Within the Turkic language family, Turkish and Uzbek are related as members of the same broader linguistic group, though they belong to distinct branches that diverged historically.12

• Turkish is classified within the southwestern, or Oghuz, branch. It is most closely related to languages such as Azerbaijani, Turkmen, and Gagauz.13
• Uzbek belongs to the southeastern, or Uyghur-Chagatai, branch.134

While all Turkic languages share fundamental similarities in phonology, morphology, and syntax, the Oghuz and Uyghur-Chagatai branches represent different paths of linguistic development following the early split of Turkic languages into Common Turkic and Bolgar Turkic types. Consequently, Turkish and Uzbek are considered more distantly related to one another than they are to the languages within their own respective branches.231