Azerbaijani president receives head of Organization of Turkic States

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday received the new head of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Kubanychbek Omuraliev.

“Aliyev congratulated Omuraliev on his election as the Secretary-General of the OTS, wished him success in his work toward further strengthening mutual activity among the member states of the organization, and expressed confidence that he will spare no effort in the implementation of close cooperation,” a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency said.

It said that Aliyev noted that the importance of OTS has increased on the international level, adding that the organization’s 9th summit in Samarkand last month served “to increase the international reputation and economic potential of member and observer states.”

According to the statement, Omuraliev, for his part, noted that Azerbaijan was the first country among the founding members of the OTS that he visited after becoming its secretary general.

The Organization of Turkic States was formed in 2009 to promote cooperation among Turkic-speaking states. It consists of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan as member countries and Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as observer states.

Omuraliev’s appointment as the new Secretary-General of the OTC was announced last month at the 9th heads of state summit of the group’s leaders in Samarkand.