Turkish mentality men(ego)

My husband said he wanted to end the marriage but never actually divorced me. I’m confused.
I’m 29F, and my husband is 30M. We’ve been married for several years. We don’t have children, but we had planned to start a family.
Over the last year, we argued a lot about our families, finances, and other issues. After one particularly bad argument, he said he couldn’t do it anymore and wanted to end the marriage.
I’m originally from Kazakhstan, and after hearing that, I was heartbroken. I thought some time apart might help us both calm down, so I went to stay with my family in Almaty.
At first, I tried to communicate and work things out, but every conversation seemed to go nowhere. He seemed firm in his decision. Eventually, I stopped pushing and started focusing on myself and my career. I started working in IT company in Almaty and started to feel better about myself although my life with my husband never left my mind.
It’s been many months now. He has never come to visit me, never asked me to come back, and he still hasn’t filed for divorce or end it Islamically at least.
That’s what confuses me I feel trapped because I can’t start a new relationship as we are still married but also go back to my husband because of this. My best friend says he is doing this to spite you because he is angry with you, maybe he is even cheating on you while you suffer here alone.
If someone truly wants out of a marriage, why not end it legally? Why leave everything in limbo?
Part of me wonders if he’s waiting for me to make the first move because of pride, while another part of me thinks he’s emotionally checked out but doesn’t want to be the one to officially end things.
Has anyone been through something similar? If you’re from a culture where family expectations and pride play a big role, how did it turn out?