Azernews.Az

ANKARA – Azerbaijan-Turkey Supreme Strategic Cooperation Council is expected to be established at a summit of Turkic-speaking countries in Istanbul on Thursday, Cihan agency reported.

A relevant agreement will be signed between Turkish President Abdullah Gul and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, who will represent Azerbaijan at the summit.

Aliyev will hold bilateral meetings with Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

The establishing of a new international organization - the Council of Cooperation of Turkic-speaking countries with headquarters in Istanbul will top the agenda of the tenth Turkic summit.

The summit will be followed by a meeting of the heads and representatives of the Turkic-speaking countries’ foreign ministries.

Background
The idea to set up the new body was first voiced by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2006, at Turkic summit in Antalya, Turkey. In 2009, the Turkic forum in Nakhchivan embodied this idea in an agreement to establish a new international structure.

The Council of Cooperation of Turkic-speaking countries will be the basis for a new regional Turkic union, designed to strengthen the unity of the peoples living in similar linguistic and cultural environment, and to strengthen political and trade relations.

The summit will mull a wide range of international and regional issues as well.

A consultative advisory body – the Council of Elders – is expected to be established during the summit. This council is to be headed by the chief of the Turkish presidential secretariat, Mustafa Isen.