By Meiramgul Kussainova
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AA) – Leaders of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) will meet in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana on Friday.
The group’s 10th heads of state summit will gather under the motto the Turkic Age, or Turk Time, seeking to forge a new era of cooperation and coordination among the world’s Turkic states.
The summit, hosted by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, will be attended by the presidents of Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan.
Officials from observer countries such as Turkmenistan, Hungary, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will also attend.
The Astana Act and Astana Declaration are expected to be signed at the summit, where a series of important decisions are also expected in the economy, trade, transportation, customs, finance, education, tourism, culture and many other fields.
Omer Kocaman, the group’s deputy secretary general, told Anadolu that they will take significant steps towards greater integration of the Turkic world.
Cooperation between the member states will be strengthened in areas such as domestic affairs, security, and defense, he said, adding that serious political crises and conflicts are occurring both in and around the region.
"We feel the need to deepen our cooperation, especially in the field of security, and to develop our defense industry cooperation,” he added.
- Economic ties, plight of Gaza
On economic ties, he said the trade volume within the group has topped some $40 billion.
“Boosting trade is now one of the critical issues for us. The activity of the Turkish Investment Fund is very important to improve cooperation in this field,” he added.
On recent developments in the besieged Gaza Strip, he said that in the Astana Declaration, they will strongly condemn the Israeli attacks.
Emphasizing that they have now completed the group’s establishment and institutionalization period, he said they expect Turkmenistan to join the group.
“The participation of Hungary and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as observers has also strengthened our organization,” he added.
The Organization of Turkic States, formerly called the Turkic Council, was established in 2009 as an intergovernmental organization made up of prominent independent Turkic countries that work together to elevate relations and union among themselves.
Its members are Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, while Hungary as well as Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have observer status.
*Writing by Gozde Bayar