Turkic council passes key decisions at Baku ministerial
By Nigar Orujova
The first conference of ministers dealing with diaspora issues of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (CCTS) was held in Azerbaijan's capital Baku on Thursday, the State Committee on Work with Diaspora said.
The CCTS was founded by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey in 2009 as an international intergovernmental organization, with the overarching aim of promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic countries.
The conference participants exchanged opinions on a final draft document that envisions major trends in future cooperation of the CCTS state-run diaspora institutions.
The CCTS founder countries made proposals to the document. The final document was adopted after discussion and was approved by the CCTS secretary general.
It was suggessted to create a coordinating group to develop a general stragegy of diaspora organizations. The CCTS Secretariat is entrusted to coordinate the group's work.
Moreover, the document envisages creating a forum of CCTS diaspora organization heads and convening a forum in Azerbaijan.
The conference made a decision to hold the steering group's first session in Istanbul in April 2013.
Moreover, a first forum of the heads of CCTS diaspora organizations will be held in connection with the Council's third summit.
In accordance with two main CCTS documents - the Nakhcivan Agreement of October 3, 2009 and the Istanbul Declaration of September 16, 2010, CCTS member states embrace the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, along with other universally recognized principles of international law.
The CCTS objectives include further deepening of comprehensive cooperation among Turkic speaking states as well as making joint contributions to peace and stability worldwide. Expanding interaction in science, technology, education and culture is one of the CCTS' main goals.