President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for lasting unity and solidarity among Turkic states on Oct. 3, marking Turkic States Cooperation Day and the 17th anniversary of the Nakhchivan Agreement.
“On this path of brotherhood, which we embarked on with the motto ‘Unity in language, thought and action,’ I wish for our unity, togetherness and solidarity to endure,” he wrote on social media platform NSosyal.
The agreement, signed on Oct. 3, 2009, established the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, known as the Turkic Council. Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were its founding members.
The council grew out of a series of summits of Turkic-speaking countries launched in 1992 after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Uzbekistan joined in 2019, bringing membership to five.
The group adopted its current name, the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), at a summit in Istanbul in November 2021.
Hungary, Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus hold observer status.
The organization’s secretariat is based in Istanbul, and its work covers trade, transport, energy, education and culture.
In a separate statement marking the anniversary, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the organization had strengthened cooperation and solidarity through shared history, language and ties of brotherhood.
The ministry said Türkiye would continue working to turn the Turkic world’s human, economic and strategic potential into shared prosperity.
Türkiye will host the organization’s 13th summit in Ankara on Oct. 29-30, the ministry said, adding that the meeting would advance cooperation further.
