UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; REVISES BYLINE
By Ali Kemal Akan and Dmitri Chirciu
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AA) – Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus on Friday held separate talks in Turkmenistan with several world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Kurtulmus also held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
During the meeting between Putin and Kurtulmus, the Russian leader said he looks forward to seeing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia on Oct. 22-24, and that he plans to hold a bilateral meeting with Erdogan during the summit.
During their meeting, Kurtulmus and Zardari exchanged views on bilateral ties between Türkiye and Pakistan, discussed the situation in the Palestinian territories, notably in Gaza, as well as Israel’s current attacks on Lebanon, and current global and regional issues.
- Kurtulmus calls for new global system
Kurtulmus also called for a new global system at an international forum in Turkmenistan, urging regional cooperation in response to Israel’s ongoing attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.
Speaking at a forum in the capital Ashgabat marking the 300th anniversary of the birth of Turkmen poet and thinker Magtymguly Pyragy, Kurtulmus said: "As the states and peoples of this region, with our material and spiritual wealth, young population, and the great advantage of being located in a geography that connects two parts of the world, we must mobilize first in our region and then globally to establish a fair international system."
"Unfortunately, since October 2023, the major massacre caused by the gang governing Israel, which disregards international law, is endangering the entire region and deeply wounding the hearts of all peoples, especially the Turkish-Islamic world," he added, referring to Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 42,000 people and injuring some 98,000 others.
He stressed that “international structures and institutions have become an unbearable burden for the world."
"In the upcoming era of this emerging multipolar world, together with our friends gathered around this table, especially the Turkish-Islamic world, we must declare that the time has come for a new global system, new global institutions, new global principles, and sanctions, and we must increase our efforts in this direction," he added.
The forum, hosted by Turkmenistan's President Serdar Berdimuhammedov, was attended by numerous world leaders.
*Writing by Zehra Nur Celik and Serdar Dincel