Baku, 17 October 2019 (GNP): Baku hosted the 7th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states wherein the leaders and dignitaries from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan participated and vowed to work together and advance their causes collectively with effective use of the foreign policy, developing linkages through transportation and technology. For the first time, Uzbekistan participated as a full member of the Turkic Council. Hungary also participated as an observer state. The presence of Uzbekistan in the Summit is considered as historic and the “long-awaited event for the entire Turkic Speaking community” as noted by President Nazarbayev. A meeting of the Foreign Ministers was also held on the sidelines.
During the summit, an award ceremony was also held to present the Higher Order of the Turkic World to Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev. On the occasion President Nazarbayev said “At the anniversary of our collaboration, we have achieved good results. First, both from a global point of view and within ourselves, we have proved the relevance and high demand for our organization. Secondly, the council now includes Uzbekistan and Hungary. Thus, we have opened a new page in our annals. Thirdly, our countries have formed a serious institutional architecture. Fourth, there is an increase in the credibility of the organization, both regionally and internationally, and fifth, we adopted the concept of the integration of the Turkic world,”
In his opening remarks, President Ilham Aliyev said that the cooperation between the Turkic speaking connection and the potential ntries is significant as a result of the historical Silk Road potential as the region is becoming the hub between Europe and Asia. President Ilham said that Azerbaijan is an active member of East-Wester Transport Corridor and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway link is a joint contribution towards the restoration of the historic silk road.
Founded by Azerbaijan in 2009, the goal of the council is to cooperate between member states. This year the Council is also celebrating its tenth anniversary. The eighth summit will be held in Turkey next year. (GNP)