The informal summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), hosted by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev successfully concluded in Shusha, Azerbaijan on July 6, 2024.
The summit reportedly brought together the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Vice President of Türkiye Cevdet Yılmaz, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar and Secretary General of the OTS Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliyev.
The OTS’ official website says the summit was themed “Building a Sustainable Future through Transport, Connectivity and Climate Action" and the leaders discussed key issues and the Organization's agenda. The leaders reportedly engaged in productive dialogue and reached pivotal decisions, finalizing and endorsing documents related to various OTS projects.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, in his opening remarks at the meeting voiced a desire for the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) to develop into an “influential global entity” capable of protecting regional interests and practices from outside influence.
Aliyev urged his fellow heads of state to show greater commitment to the OTS via increased budget allocations. Azerbaijan recently contributed US$2 million to enhance the OTS secretariat.
The heads of state signed and adopted several important documents, including the Karabakh Declaration, which offers a comprehensive vision for the region's future cooperation. They also signed the decision to increase the staff and budget of the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States, thereby strengthening the organizational capacity of the OTS.
The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), formerly called the Turkic Council or the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an international organization comprising prominent independent Turkic countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Three other nations, Hungary, Turkmenistan and the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, have observer status.
It is an intergovernmental organization whose overarching aim is promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking states. First proposed by the then Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2006, it was founded on October 3, 2009, in Nakhchivan. The General Secretariat is in Istanbul.
During the 8th summit, which was held in November 12, 2021, the council reformed into an organization, with the name Turkic Council being changed to Organization of Turkic States.
