Turkic-speaking countries committed to expanding ties
By Sara Rajabova
Turkish resort city of Bodrum hosted the Fourth Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States (CCTS) on June 5.
The presidents of CCTS' four founding member States - Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan, Abdullah Gul of Turkey, as well as Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan - which is not currently an official member of council- attended the summit.
Welcoming the Presidents, Turkish President Gul highlighted the importance of the organization in expansion of relations among Turkic-speaking countries.
He also noted that the relations between the heads of states within the organization are effective and in turn contribute to the development of bilateral relations.
President Gul said the organization has passed a great way of development since its establishment, noting this year the topic of the summit is tourism.
He stressed that this progress will play an important role in the development of further cooperation among the countries.
Furthermore, the presidents, who took part at the summit, addressed the meeting.
Summarizing the CCTS summit, President Gul emphasized that the discussed issues will give a new impetus to further expansion of cooperation among the Turkic states.
Afterwards, the Presidents signed the Joint Declaration of the Summit and documents including the decisions about the appointment of the Secretary General of the Turkish Council and his deputies, as well as the election of the President of the Turkish Academy.
Ramil Hasanov was elected as the new Secretary General of the CCTS and Darkhan Khidirali as President of the Turkish Academy.
After the Summit, Azerbaijani President Aliyev, Turkish President Gul and Turkmen President Berdymukhamedov held a trilateral meeting.
The sides said the meeting discussed the Fourth Summit of the CCTS contributes to further expansion of cooperation among the peoples and countries.
Also, the meeting stressed the importance of holding meetings at different levels adding expanded relations among the countries will contribute to strengthening of the regional cooperation.
On June 4, the presidents held some bilateral meetings and attended a dinner in Bodrum hosted by the Turkish President Gul.
The presidents also attended a concert called "Türkdüyünü" in the historic Bodrum Castle.
On June 4, Bodrum also hosted a meeting of foreign ministers of the member states as part of the 4th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States.
Previous summit of Turkic-speaking countries was held in Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan city in August, 2013.
The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (CCTS) was established in 2009 in Nakhchivan 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 remaining two Turkic states, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are not currently official members of the council due to their neutral stance.