Azernews.Az

The cooperation between the Turkic Speaking States has deepened even further over the past year, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, during his speech at the opening of the Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States held in Azerbaijani city of Gabala on Aug. 16.

The Azerbaijani President expressed his gratitude to the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev for successful chairmanship in the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States last year.

According to President Aliyev, Kyrgyzstan's successful chairmanship gave a strong impetus to the activity of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States.

"I am confident that our cooperation in the coming years will deepen, expand, and rise to a new level," the Azerbaijani president said.

The President of Azerbaijan welcomed all the guests of the summit in the old Azerbaijani city of Gabala. The head of state recalled that the previous summit was held in another ancient Azerbaijani city - Nakhchivan.

"Holding such meetings on a high level in various cities are of introductory character, at the same time the unity between our countries and peoples is even more strengthening. The Turkic world is becoming more powerful. It covers a large geographic area, and of course, our peoples must better know each other, and our cooperation must be intensified," President Aliyev said.

"With a great sense of pride I can say at the previous high-level meetings in Azerbaijan, namely in Nakhchivan, a new format for cooperation between the Turkic-speaking States was created. And using this format within the framework of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking Sountries is a new stage in our cooperation," the president underscored.

President Aliyev noted that this is the third high-level meeting, and added with confidence that in the future such meetings will be held on a regular basis.

"Our peoples are united by common history and culture. For centuries our peoples were closely bounded with each other. We've cooperated, lived together, were supportive of each other. Today, as independent states, we are united in all matters, we should be together," the president said.

President Aliyev went on to note that the main task of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States is to further strengthen the unity between the countries and peoples.

"We are implementing a very successful activity in the bilateral format, an excellent cooperation in economic sphere is carried out, our countries constantly support each other on international arena, and this is natural because brotherly countries should be close to each other," the president said. "In many cases in the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other international organizations we speak with one voice, and that of course makes us stronger."

Azerbaijani President said that today the work will be carried out in different ways, and a number of important issues will be discussed.

"Of course, the issue of regional security is very important for successful development of our nations, and our countries greatly contribute to regional security," President Aliyev underscored.

The member countries of the CCTS must ensure the continuous well-being in these countries, Aliyev said.

"Unfortunately, Azerbaijan, for a long time, has been suffering from Armenian occupation. Twenty percent of Azerbaijani lands are under occupation, and the country's territorial integrity, recognized by the international community, is being violated," Azerbaijani President said.

An ethnic cleansing was carried out against the Azerbaijani people and all norms of the international law were grossly violated, the Head of Azerbaijani State emphasized.

"Rapid and fair settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of international law will put an end to this injustice and contribute to regional security," the Azerbaijani President said.

According to him, this conflict must be settled within the framework of international law and Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the Joint Declaration of the CCTS reflects exactly these principles.

"In this regard, I would like to express gratitude to my colleagues," President Aliyev said.

President Ilham Aliyev went on to say that the XXI century should become the century of Turkic world.

The soonest establishment of the Fund for support of Turkic culture and Turkic heritage preservation will become a very important event, he said.

"Our countries have the potential, joint activities and such an important form of partnership, as the Cooperation Council. We need to strengthen all the positive trends. I believe that today's summit serves these goals and will have a successful outcome," he said.

The Azerbaijani President noted that the Cooperation Council member countries are developing successfully and confidently.

"Today, the processes in different parts of the world, unfortunately, including the Islamic world, are developing in different directions. Clashes, civil wars and other negative events are happening. However, stability and development dominates in our Turkic region. This is a great achievement, great wealth. Especially considering that the global financial and economic crisis is still ongoing," President Aliyev said.

"I believe that the overall development of our countries, as well as stability and progress in countries, is a great achievement of our people, a great wealth of our countries. We must preserve and develop this wealth," the president said.

He noted that the cultures of the Turkic-speaking countries are closely inter-related.

"We share common roots and common holidays and our languages are similar to each other. Thus, the humanitarian sphere forms the basis for our cooperation. Otherwise, the cooperation would be less likely to develop at this level. Therefore, it is necessary to pay great attention to the work carried out in the humanitarian sphere. I particularly want to emphasize the activities of TURKSOY, which is very active in Turkic-speaking countries, and thus serves for the unification of the Turkic world," President of Azerbaijan said.

Also the president proposed to hold a joint exhibition on the tourism potential and the tourist centers of the Turkic world.

According to estimates of the most authoritative economic structure in the world, the World Economic Forum (Davos Forum), the Azerbaijani economy ranks as the 46th in the world for competitiveness.

"Economic reforms held in Azerbaijan and, certainly, rich natural resources serve the development of the country," he added. "There are new opportunities to deepen cooperation in the economic sphere," Aliyev said.

According to the president, Azerbaijan is implementing investment projects both in the country and abroad.

"I believe that the friendly and brotherly relations between our countries will serve to making mutual investments as well. Azerbaijan continues taking steps in this direction any way. We are united by energy and transport corridors, which is great wealth. The CCTS member-states have considerable natural resources and vast geography. All of these efforts ensure the development of each country. Certainly, it is necessary to continue pursuing energy diplomacy and coordination of efforts in this direction, and I think we will continue to work in this direction in the future," President Aliyev said.

The president proposed to hold a joint exhibition on the tourism potential and the tourist centers of the Turkic world.

"This exhibition can be held either in our countries or in other states. Along with this, the Turkic world can make a single presentation at the prestigious international exhibitions, since our countries have excellent opportunities for tourism. The tourism potential uniting our countries is strengthening - Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea, Lake Issyk-Kul are very popular tourist destinations," the president underscored.

"The nature of our countries is very beautiful. I believe that the joint tourism presentation, including the clean air, mountains, forests and rivers, will reflect and represent our unity and at the same time, from a practical point of view, will increase the flow of tourists to our countries," President Aliyev said.

He noted that today the proposals related to the development of new information and communication technologies were voiced today.

"Azerbaijan continues to work in this direction. Earlier this year, the first Azerbaijani telecommunications satellite was launched into orbit, signifying the start of the development of the aerospace industry in the country. Certainly, this area is directly related to the humanitarian sector. Information and communication technology means knowledge, literacy, innovation, and, of course, the development of the humanitarian field is very important for every country," President Aliyev said.

The Summit brought together President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev.

The Summit saw the chairmanship of the organization pass to Azerbaijan. The event then continued with a ceremony to sign documents.

The presidents of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed the Declaration of the 3rd Summit of Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States and the resolution of the Council of Heads of State of Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States on the term of office of Secretary General, Ambassador Halil Akinci.

The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States was established in 2009 as an international intergovernmental organization, with the overarching aim of promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic Speaking States. Its four founding member States are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.

The first Summit of the Council took place in Almaty in 2011, while the second in Bishkek last year.