President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has said that in the current dangerous situation, it is essential for the countries that are part of the “Organization of Turkic States” to identify the common approaches and coordinate efforts to address the most pressing problems.
Under the chairmanship of President Shavkat, a summit of the heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States was held in Samarkand on November 11. The theme of the summit was “New Era for the Turkic Civilization: Towards Common Development and Prosperity”.
The summit was attended by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban.
Speaking on the occasion, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev thanked the summit participants for supporting the initiative to declare the city of Samarkand as the “Capital of the Turkic civilization”.
Talking about the shared heritage between the Turkic states, President Shavkat said: “It is the most important task for all of us to preserve such an invaluable heritage, study it deeply and pass it on to future generations.”
He added: “Another importance of our today’s summit is that for the first time in our multi-thousand-year history, our Turkic family is gathering in such a full format as a part of our renewed organization.”
Talking about the “acute geopolitical contradictions, the global economic crisi” and the climate catastrophe, the Uzbek president said that it was essential to identify and address the most pressing problems.
Sharing the vision of the future of the organization under Uzbekistan, he vowed to effectively implement the Turkic world vision concept and the five-year strategy of the organization to further strengthen the authority of the organization, which includes a vast region with more than 170 million people. Most importantly the goal, according to the President, is to bring a higher level of cooperation between the people and countries.
He also emphasized the importance of strengthening trade between the Turkic states.
“In order to fundamentally change the situation in this strategic direction, [and] to ensure free movement of trade, investment and services, we put forward the initiative on [the] establishment of a space of new economic opportunities within our Organization.”
To achieve this goal, the leader of Uzbekistan proposed to hold an International Turkic Economic Forum annually. The organization of joint events within the framework of the forum in the format of “state and business”, meetings of entrepreneurs and round tables, presentations of innovative projects and exhibitions will give a great practical result. It is important that as a result of these events, annual “roadmaps” will be adopted, focused on the implementation of joint programs and projects.
These measures are primarily aimed at dramatically increasing mutual trade and joint entry into the markets of third countries, creating uninterrupted value chains, high-tech clusters and venture companies.
Another top priority is ensuring regional security. The importance of maintaining constant contact and strengthening interaction between law enforcement agencies and special services in the fight against terrorism, extremism, youth radicalization, human trafficking, drug trafficking, public safety, and cybersecurity was emphasized.
“I want to draw your attention to another urgent problem. Of course, we are all seriously concerned about the situation in neighboring Afghanistan today. The issue of resolving the situation in this country should not leave our field of view,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed.
Touching upon the issues of cultural and humanitarian cooperation, he said that today Uzbekistan had become a full member of the International Organization of Turkic Culture, and next year, as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the organization, a “Festival of Culture” of the Turkic Peoples will be held.
Uzbekistan has published a 100-volume collection of “Pearls of Turkic Literature” in Uzbek, which includes the best examples of the literature of the member countries and observers of the OTS.
“If we publish this valuable spiritual treasure in the languages of all participating countries and observers, it will become a solid foundation for the rapprochement of our fraternal countries, primarily the younger generation,” the head of Uzbekistan said.
In order to bring the activities of the Organization of Turkic States to a qualitatively new level, increase its effectiveness and fully utilize the potential of cooperation, the President of Uzbekistan proposed to carry out institutional reforms in the organization.
As a result of the meeting, the Samarkand Declaration of the summit of the Organization of Turkic States was adopted, which was aimed at further expanding multifaceted cooperation within this structure.
In addition, it was decided to approve the candidacy of Kubanychbek Omuraliev for the post of Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States
