nCa Report
On 3 November 2023, the 10th Anniversary Summit of the Organization of Turkic States was held in Astana under the chairmanship of the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The summit in Astana was attended by:
- Kazakhstan – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
- Uzbekistan – President Shavkat Mirziyoyev
- Azerbaijan – President Ilham Aliyev
- Kyrgyzstan – President Sadyr Japarov
- Türkiye – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
- Turkmenistan – Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov
- Hungary – Prime Minister Viktor Orban
- Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Kubanychbek Omuraliev.
The summit was also attended by members of the Council of Elders of the OTS and heads of organizations of Turkic cooperation.
On the eve of the summit, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OTS met to finalize the documents to be signed by the heads of state, as well as to discuss various issues on the Organization’s agenda.
During the historic summit, held under the motto “TURKTIME”, leaders reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to deepen cooperation and strengthen solidarity among Turkic-speaking states within the Organization.
Among the adopted decisions are the Astana Act, resolutions on awarding the Supreme Order of the Turkic World to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the declaring 6 February as the “Day of Remembrance and Solidarity with the Disaster Victims of the Turkic World”, the designation of Astana and Istanbul as financial centers.
At the end of the Summit, at which the chairmanship of the Organization passed from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan, the heads of State signed the Declaration of the tenth OTS Summit.
The leaders also agreed that the next summit will be held in Kyrgyzstan in 2024.
Signed Documents
- The Astana Act;
- The Declaration of the 10th anniversary Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS);
- The decision of the Heads of State on awarding President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev the highest order of the Turkic world;
- The decision of the Heads of State on the Turkic world financial center status;
- The decision on new flags of the Turkic Cooperation Organizations;
- The decision of the Heads of State on appointments;
- The decision on the status of an Economic Cooperation Organization observer to the Organization of Turkic States;
- The decision on establishment of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Disasters and Solidarity of the Organization of Turkic States on February 6;
- The decision on the budget management policy of the OTS Secretary;
- The decision on the development of provisions of OTS permanent representatives;
- The Protocol on cooperation between the relevant institutions of the OTS member states in the field of metrology;
- The joint action plan of the OTS on the implementation of the 2023/27 transport connection program.
The Astana Declaration approved by the Heads of State at the 10th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States held on 3 November 2023 is available at the below link:
https://www.turkicstates.org/assets/pdf/haberler/astana-declaration-3113-215.pdf
National Leader of the Turkmen people announced constructive initiatives for the development of OTS
The National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, speaking at the summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Astana, called on the Organization’s countries to support Turkmenistan’s initiative to prepare a Strategy for universal security proposed at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
“In recent years, the international order has experienced a challenging period. Complex political and strategic situations are unfolding in different parts of the world, including regions close to our countries,” Arkadag said.
The Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan stressed that the world community faces myriad global challenges and threats. To overcome these complex cataclysms that disrupt universal peace and security, concerted efforts are essential to carefully assess the evolving political situation and make necessary decisions.
He noted that this Strategy will contribute to strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation, solving urgent issues facing the world community, and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Speaking about the international criteria of our relations, we put forward a proposal to adopt a Program of cooperation between the countries of the Organization of Turkic States for 2024-2025 for systematic interaction within the framework of international organizations,” the National Leader of the Turkmen people stressed.
One of the initiatives presented by Arkadag is to use the logistics potential of Turkmenistan.
“In the current terms of general instability, one of the key tasks is to create a modern transport, transit and logistics system between our states and widely spreading beyond their borders,” he said.
According to the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, in recent years Turkmenistan has come up with a number of major infrastructure projects linking Asia and Europe, and the countries that are members of the Organization of Turkic States actively participate in them.
He recalled that in 2017, in accordance with the relevant Agreement signed in Ashgabat, the Afghanistan–Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Türkiye transport corridor and the Caspian Sea–Black Sea transport corridor were created at the initiative of Turkmenistan and a corresponding multilateral documents were signed.
Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty also noted that work is currently underway on the formation of the Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan transport corridor with access to the Caspian Sea, which will then extend to Azerbaijan, and onward to Türkiye.
According to Arkadag, the above examples clearly confirm the relevance and effectiveness of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor being created with the participation of the Turkic states.
“In this context, in order to activate transport and transit communication, I propose to use the possibilities of the logistics and infrastructure system of Turkmenistan,” Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed.
He proposed developing a Roadmap for energy cooperation among OTS member states.
Turkmenistan pursues a policy of reliable and safe energy exports to world markets, particularly to neighboring countries and regional states. For example, Turkmenistan currently exports natural gas to Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
“At the same time, there are opportunities for the transportation of Turkmen natural gas through the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and in the future to bring it to world markets. I am sure that we will resolve all the necessary issues together with our fraternal countries in the very near future, and appropriate work will be carried out,” Berdimuhamedov said.
Speaking about the electric power industry, Arkadag noted that Turkmenistan exports electricity to the fraternal countries of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and in the future it will be possible to supply electricity to Azerbaijan and Türkiye through the Caspian Sea.
“Today, the foundation of a new modern power plant with a capacity of 1,574 megawatts has been laid on the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea near the city of Turkmenbashi,” he said.
Turning to the topic of expanding multilateral cooperation of the OTS countries in the field of culture, Arkadag proposed to regularly hold bilateral and multilateral cultural events, in particular, joint Days of Culture of the Turkic states.
Highly appreciating the activity of TURKSOY in the cultural and humanitarian direction, Berdimuhamedov stressed the expediency of expanding joint activities carried out within its framework.
“Turkmenistan plans to hold a number of international events in 2024 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the great Turkmen classical poet and thinker Magtymguly Fragi, as well as the declaring the ancient Turkmen city of Anau as the “Cultural Capital of the Turkic world,” Arkadag Berdimuhamedov said at the summit
“Taking this opportunity, I invite all of you to take part in the upcoming celebrations next year,” he said.
He also stressed the expediency to enhance cooperation in science and education, healthcare, sports and other fields.
Kazakhstan presented the agenda of its chairmanship in the OTS
Kazakhstan will become the presiding country in the OTS in 2024 and, as Tokayev said, Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the organization will be held under the motto “TURKTIME!”.
This abbreviation reflects eight priorities that will be given utmost attention: Traditions, Unification, Reforms, Knowledge, Trust, investments, Mediation and Energy. In his main report at the summit, the Kazakh leader revealed the essence of each of these pillars.
Traditions. “We are fulfilling the will of our ancestors and strengthening cooperation among Turkic nations. We must maintain our unity based on mutual trust and solidarity in order to pass it on to the next generation. The Turkic world interacts with global powers on an equal footing. Other nations are now reckoning with the key stances of our organization. Therefore, the expansion of relations between Turkic peoples is a common task for all of us,” Kassym–Jomart Tokayev stressed.
According to him, the popularization of Turkic unity is of great importance, as we are connected by a common history, culture, language and mentality. In this regard, he drew attention to the need to uniform the flags and emblems of the Organization of Turkic States and its structures.
Unification. According to Tokayev, it is necessary to ensure the synchronous development of the Turkic states. He proposed to systematize the standards and terminology of the Member States of the Organization.
“Uniform standards will allow us to ensure annual GDP growth of about 1%. This year, the turnover of goods between the OTS countries exceeded 22 billion US dollars. This figure could show 1.5 fold increase if we adopt common requirements. I am also proposing the establishment of the OTS Reference Centre, which will ensure mutual recognition of the results of product testing, as well as new research in the field of chemical and food industries,” the President of Kazakhstan said.
Reforms. He voiced a number of proposals to optimize the Organization’s activities and international integration. They inlcude:
- Increase in the number of secretariat staff.
- Strengthening the cooperation of the Turkic states in the electoral sphere.
- Establishment of an advisory council of central electoral bodies
- Assignment of observer status to the Organization for Economic Cooperation
- Establishing cooperation with the Islamic Food Security Organization.
Knowledge. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed out the importance of strengthening cooperation in the field of education and science on the basis of scientific partnership. This could include opening branches of top universities, holding joint scientific events and exchanging experience, creating language departments, as well as developing artificial intelligence, digital and aerospace industries.
Trust. Tokayev urged the OTS countries to strengthen cooperation in the field of security in the face of such growing challenges as arms and drug trafficking, terrorism, extremism, and migration. He proposed to sign an agreement for a collaborative effort against crime and the exchange of information between the financial investigative bodies of the member states
Investment. “The Turkic Investment Fund has a unique role in this endeavor. To improve economic relations, it is necessary to establish a market for “green” finance. As you are aware, Kazakhstan has proposed the creation of a Council of Turkic Green Finance. Moreover, the proposal to grant Astana the status of the financial center of the Turkic world was supported by all parties. I extend my genuine gratitude to all of you for this unanimous decision,” Tokayev continued.
Mediation. Tokayev called increasing the role of mediation in conflict resolution an urgent task.
He spoke about the decision to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in the amount of $ 1 million.
“It is simply intolerable to use violence and acts of terrorism to solve pressing problems that have persisted for decades. Kazakhstan strongly condemns such actions. The escalation of the conflict could lead to serious consequences. We strongly advise to resolve any disputes through peaceful negotiations and dialogue. Upholding the territorial integrity of all states and non-intervention in their domestic matters remain of utmost importance to us,” Tokayev said.
Energy. In this direction, the President of Kazakhstan noted that he proposed to hold an International Energy Forum in Kazakhstan this year and a regional summit on climate change is planned to be held in 2026.
“We attach great importance to the development of new energy sources, the modernization and diversification of transportation routes. We also have a keen interest in the introduction of best practices and technologies in geological exploration and power generation. We value the advancement of the petrochemical sector and collaborative efforts towards sustainable energy”, he stressed.
Mirziyoyev awarded the Supreme Order of the Turkic World
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev was awarded the “Supreme Order of the Turkic World” for his outstanding contribution to strengthening the unity of the Turkic family, actively promoting the interests and views of the Turkic countries in the international arena.
Since joining the OTS in 2019, Uzbekistan has put forward over 50 proposals and initiatives aimed at strengthening relations of friendship, good-neighborliness and multifaceted cooperation between the Turkic countries.
During the period of Uzbekistan’s chairmanship, over 100 different events were held in the Organization.
What the leaders of the OTS countries talked about – quotes from speeches
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev: “Developing and diversifying global logistics chains and transport corridors, and forming a unified transit network are urgent priorities. To meet growing demand for cargo transportation, we support expanding the potential of the Middle Corridor and developing additional diversified routes, such as corridors through our countries to the markets of China, South Asia, and Europe. We also support digitalizing transport services. We propose establishing a Council of Railway Departments of our states and headquartering its directorate in our country.”
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev: “Azerbaijan has invested over $20 billion in the economy of the Turkic states. The bulk share consists of investments made in Türkiye. The process of creating joint investment funds has begun. The Azerbaijan-Uzbek Investment Fund and the Azerbaijan-Kyrgyz Development Fund have been established. Compared to the corresponding period of 2022, in January-September 2023, Azerbaijan’s trade turnover with the Turkic states increased by 40 %. In the context of the development of our relations, the spheres of transport and logistics occupy an important place.”
President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov: “Today’s Summit is held on the topic of “TURKTIME”. As you know, Kyrgyzstan pays special attention to the development of multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation within the Organization, especially considering that the goals and priorities of the development of Turkic cooperation in general are in tune with the economic policy pursued in the Kyrgyz Republic. I think it is important for our Turkic countries to join efforts to increase economic potential and advance towards sustainable development”
President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “Carrying the Caspian natural gas to Türkiye and Europe will contribute to both Turkic states’ prosperity and Europe’s security. We should particularly focus on expanding the transportation networks among our countries. In line with this understanding, we continue our efforts to launch the Trans-Caspian East-West Middle Corridor. We should strengthen our cooperation to remove the obstacles in the way of transportation and trade, expand transportation networks, and facilitate border crossings and visa procedures.”
Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban: “The role of the OTS is increasing in the current international situation. Turkic countries have already been able to dampen conflicts, and the risk of escalation. Hungary would like to strengthen this policy within the Organization. We are ready to participate in the Turkic Investment Fund and we will contribute 100 million euros to this fund.” ///nCa, 3 November 2023 [Photo credit – OTS, government sources of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan]
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