Azernews.Az

BAKU – Turkic countries’ leaders on Thursday launch a new regional cooperation organization that will boost relations among six Turkic-speaking nations.

Turkic-speaking Countries Cooperation Council was announced by Turkish President Abdullah Gul at a news conference held after the Turkic summit in Istanbul.

Leaders of Turkic-speaking countries have been meeting regularly since the early 1990s to discuss cooperation, but a decision to set up the cooperation council was taken only last year.

A secretariat of the council will be set up in Istanbul and will be chaired by Turkey over the next three years.

Halil Akinci, Turkey’s former ambassador to Russia, has been appointed secretary general of the organization, which will work to strengthen ties between Turkic countries. The secretary general will have an aide representing each member state.

The idea to set up the council was floated by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Turkic summit in Antalya, Turkey in 2006. In 2009, the agreement on establishing a new regional organization was signed at the summit held in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The council will be the basis for the new regional Turkic union, designed to strengthen unity among the nations that speak similar languages and share similar cultural environment, and to boost political and trade relations.

Thursday’s summit was attended by the presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Only