Turkic Council member states mull expanding cooperation
By Rasana Gasimova
Turkic Council member-states are discussing creation of a joint investment fund on the conference titled "Turkic Council: 10th anniversary of the Nakhchivan agreement" held in Baku on October 3, Trend reported.
Ismat Gozalov, Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council said that as a reputable organization, the council contributes to the development of cooperation in various fields.
"The meetings held so far covered various areas. Activities of the council are combined with the work of other international organizations. The Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the council's member countries was created in 2019. Discussions are underway to create a joint investment fund," said Gozalov.
The representatives of member-states and observers of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, officials, MPs and leaders of research centers attended the conference, being held with the organizational support of the Azerbaijani Center for Analysis of International Relations.
Delivering speech at the conference, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Analysis of International Relations, Farid Shafiyev noted that the idea of uniting Turkic-speaking countries into a single organization emerged at the end of the 20th century.
“After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, this idea began to be implemented. Currently, a decision has been made to create books on mutual history and literature,” said the Deputy Secretary General.
Shafiyev added that cooperation in the economic sphere is important for the Turkic Council.
“However, the trade volume among Turkic-speaking countries is not at the desired level. Tourism not only is a part of the economic sphere. It also helps develop cultural ties. The Turkic Council member-states must pay special attention to this," he said.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Shafiyev said that Armenians are destroying cultural monuments in the occupied Azerbaijani lands.
“The Turkic Council member-states must have a unified position on this issue because these monuments are the common value of all Turkic peoples,” he said.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister, Ramiz Hasanov stressed that the Turkic Council is an important platform for the expansion of relations between the member-states.
"The Turkic Council plays an essential role in preserving the common culture and heritage of the Turkic peoples. The restoration of historical Silk Road is one of the priorities of our economic cooperation “he said.
He expressed confidence that the Nakhchivan agreement will continue contributing to strengthening the relations among the Turkic countries.
Later, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Azerbaijani Center for Analysis of International Relations and the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary and the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan.
Panel sessions titled "Problems and Prospects for the Institutionalization of the Turkic Council" and "Prospects for Cooperation among Member-States" were held.
During her speech at the first panel meeting, President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, Gunay Efendiyeva spoke about the activities of the Foundation and the work conducted.
She stressed that in a short period, the Foundation has carried out various projects covering culture, rich history, national and spiritual values of the Turkic world.
Efendiyeva emphasized that the countries should joint combat against instability in the world.
“In a difficult world that we live in today, we need to exchange opinions and experiences. Turkic peoples with an ancient history and rich cultural heritage have always supported peace and enlightenment.” she said.
Speaking at the event, famous turcologist, Doctor of historical sciences Mammadli Gullu Yologlu told that Heads of Turkic states are expected to visit Baku on October 14-15 to participate at 10th Summit of Heads of Turkic Speaking States.
According to her words, under the Nakhchivan agreement, signed at the 9th Summit of Heads of Turkic Speaking States, signed on October 3, 2009 in Nakhchivan, the Cooperation Council of the Turkic Speaking States, the Turkic Council and the Turkic Union were created. They were founded by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
“Recently, Uzbekistan has joined the agreement. In addition, Hungary is participating as an observer-state. After the Council was established, summits were held in Almaty, Bishkek, Nursultan, Bodrum and Gabala. The next summit was decided to be held in Baku,” she noted.
The World Center for Turkology was also established at the event and its charter was presented. It was supported and adopted by all the participants.
Yologlu also said that the World Center for Turkology proposes marking the 3rd of October as a “Turkic Unity Day".
The academician-secretary of the Department of Social Sciences, Nargiz Akhundova supported this initiative.
The Turkic Council is committed to the purpose and principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and other universally recognized principles and norms of international law, including sovereign equality, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of states, as well as the maintenance of international peace, security and development of good-neighborly and friendly relations.
Constructed on four main pillars of common history, common language, common identity and common culture, the Turkic Council does not limit itself to the confines of these commonalities. Rather, it aims to broaden the existing bilateral cooperation areas such as economy, science, education, transportation, customs, tourism and other various fields among the member states into multilateral cooperation for the benefit of the region.
Since 2011, the Turkic Council convenes its annual summits under certain topics, where the heads of state of the Turkic Council evaluate the past period and set goals for the next year.
---
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz