Kazakhstan hosts 1^st Summit of Turkic Council

    The first summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States since its creation was held in Almaty on October 21. The event has become a new milestone in the development and strengthening of cooperation between Turkic-speaking countries.
    The meetings of the heads of state and foreign ministers of the four participating States of the CCTS, namely Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey, have resulted in the establishment of a Business Council and the signing of the Almaty Declaration.
    “The overarching goal of economic cooperation is to realize the free movement of goods, capital, services and technology amongst member states of the Turkic Council,” the declaration said.
    The four states pledged to encourage pioneering projects according to the public-private partnership model and urged the ministers of economy and encouraged the Turkic Business Council to undertake joint initiatives toward this end.
    In the Almaty declaration, they reaffirmed their commitment to the maintenance of national and regional security, stability and peace as well as to principles of democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the development of a market economy, the rule of law and good governance.
    “We are interested in the formation of the council as a full-fledged international structure,” President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in his opening speech.
    He expressed confidence the summit would strengthen the countries’ concerted efforts on the formation of the council’s status.
    The Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking countries, the Council of Elders was set up as per the initiative of Nursultan Nazarbayev to contribute to the council’s work.
    “Our glorious ancestors left a lasting mark on the world’s art and science. This is why much work toward the further rapprochement of our sister nations that have common roots is ahead of us,” president noted. To this end, he called upon the members of the Council to launch large-scale events to propagate outstanding personalities of our people and organize youth sports and culture festivals.
    “The recently established Turkic Academy is actively working to develop our culture, and study our common historical roots,” president added. Kazakhstan has rendered comprehensive support for the fruitful work of this research center in Astana.
    He also called upon Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to join the Turkic Council.
    Earlier, on October 20, the CCTC foreign ministers signed the founding documents on legal support for the Secretariat of the Turkic Council, as the Organization is also known, in order to further complete the institutionalization process.
    “It is a real pleasure for me to note that, thanks to the decisions made by our respective heads of state, the traditional cultural ties between Turkic states are being supplemented with economic ones,” Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov said at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Turkic Council on October 20.
    “It is important to note that the Turkic Council is not intended as something directed against any third countries. In its activities, the council is fully committed to United Nations’ goals and principles, the norms of international law, as well as commitments taken within the OSCE and other international organizations of which our countries are members.”
    Kazykhanov said the members of the Turkic Council need to intensify joint efforts to complete the institutionalization of the organization. As a step towards this, the ministers concluded their meeting with signing of the founding documents of the CCTS Secretariat.
    Kazakhstan’s foreign minister also outlined the work Kazakhstan plans for its chairmanship of CCTS in 2011-2012.
    Thus, the country will continue to complete the formation of the secretariat and strengthen its regulatory and legal framework, promote further investment cooperation, particularly in transport infrastructure, the industrial agriculture sector, advanced technology, engineering, and other non-resource sectors.
    Moreover, Kazakhstan will strive to expand and deepen cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sectors.
    “Under Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the CCTS, we will strive for a balanced work style in all areas of cooperation,” Kazykhanov said.
    The main result of the business forum held as part of the summit was the creation of the Business Council of the Turkic-speaking States. The council will consist of officials from major organizations and companies from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey.
    According to the Secretary General of the Turkic Council Halil Akinci, the Business Council faces two main tasks, which are finding new areas for cooperation and the elimination of existing barriers to trade and economic relations.
    The participants in the business forum meanwhile, outlined four key areas for the work of the Business Council.
    These include the institutional development of the private sector, the establishment of uniform rules and arbitration for the four countries, the development of transport and transit potential, and the creation of development agencies to promote investment and attract innovation.
    The first summit concluded with the signing of the Almaty Declaration, which pinpointed common positions of the member states on a number of key international and regional issues, as well as the main prospects for economic and cultural cooperation.
    The decision to establish the Turkic Council was made on October 3, 2009, following the Nakhichevan summit of the Heads of Turkic-speaking States.
    Today, the council includes four members: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey, according to Kazakhstan’s MFA.