The Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, initiated by Azerbaijan, was held in Ankara on 16 March 2023 on the theme of “Disaster-Emergency Management and Humanitarian Assistance.”
Hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Türkiye, and chaired by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, as chairing country, the Summit was attended by:
- Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
- Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan
- Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic
- Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, National Leader of the Turkmen People and Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan
- Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary
- Ersin Tatar, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
- Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Secretary General of the OTS.
The Members of the OTS Council of Elders headed by Binali Yıldırım, as well as the Presidents and Secretaries General of the Turkic Cooperation Organizations also attended the meeting.
The Summit constituted a high-level platform for the discussion of the extraordinary agenda of the Organization emerged due to the recent earthquake disaster happened in southern and southeastern regions of Türkiye
Within the framework of the Summit program, a minute silence was held in memory of those who lost their lives in the earthquake disaster.
The members and observer states of OTS praised the great solidarity shown by Turkic countries in mobilizing relief for Türkiye right after earthquakes with sending rescue teams and humanitarian aid.
Opening the Summit President Erdogan stated that 11 provinces of Turkiye’s south were shaken by a natural disaster, which is rare in the world in terms of magnitude and destructiveness. These earthquakes directly affected nearly 14 million citizens while over 49 thousand people lost their lives and more than 115 thousand others were injured.
“We are planning to build a total of 650 thousand houses, 319 thousand of them within a year, and to deliver them to their owners. We will inshallah revive the earthquake zone within a short span of time with the support of the friendly and brotherly countries”, he added.
OTS Heads of State and Government expressed solidarity with the Government Türkiye in the recovery and reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
Parties also agreed to strengthen cooperation among national disaster management authorities of the OTS to address needs in an effective, coordinated, and timely manner in case of possible disasters and emergencies.
At the end of the Summit the following documents were signed:
- Ankara Declaration
- The decision to create a civil protection mechanism of the Organization of Turkic States. The Heads of state instructed in this regard the relevant authorities to conclude the Agreement on the Establishment of the Civil Protection Mechanism of the OTS by the 10th Summit of the Organization in Turkistan, Kazakhstan.
- Agreement on the establishment of the Turkic Investment Fund.
National Leader of the Turkmen people addressed the summit
Speaking at the meeting, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that he participates in the meeting not only as a representative of the observer country, but also as a member of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States. In this regard, the hope was expressed that during the next visit of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan will be accepted into the OTS as a member of this Organization.
The theme of the Summit “Disaster-Emergency Management and Humanitarian Assistance”. We say: “Standing shoulder to shoulder – you will not fall.” Therefore, we must provide friendly, fraternal assistance to each other, and show unity in such difficult days, the Arkadag stressed.
Turkish companies have implemented projects in Turkmenistan worth over US $ 110 billion
“Our Turkish brothers were among the first to support the independence of Turkmenistan”, the National Leader of the Turkmen people continued. Since then, we have done a lot of work together. We have achieved significant success in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.
Since 2000, with the participation of businessmen from Türkiye, projects have been implemented in Turkmenistan and work has been done worth US $ 110 billion 382 million 53 thousand dollars.
According to Arkadag, the cost of three medical centers in Ashgabat (Cancer Center, International Center of Pediatrics, Center of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery), construction of which launched recently, is about US $1.5 billion.
In this context, it was stressed that cooperation with the Turkish business community will continue in the future.
Turkmenistan is ready to supply its gas to Türkiye
“By strengthening our regulatory framework, we will be able to bring Turkmen energy to every Turkish family through a policy of diversification. First of all, Turkmenistan is ready to consider the issue of supplying its gas to Turkey today”, Chairman of Halk Maslahaty said.
“This is only what concerns hydrocarbon resources. With regard to energy, if necessary, we will be able to lay a power transmission line in parallel with the gas pipeline”, he stressed.
In this regard, the National Leader of the Turkmen people confirmed Turkmenistan’s willingness to implement many large-scale joint projects.
Turkmenistan supports Erdogan’s nomination for the Nobel Prize
As Chairman Halk Maslahaty further noted, he closely knows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for 22 years.
As it was emphasized, the head of Türkiye is an outstanding personality and a world-class political figure. He is doing a lot of work to ensure a peaceful life not only for his people, but also for all Muslim peoples. In this regard, the great contribution of the leader of a friendly country to the strengthening of peace, security and sustainable development on a regional and global scale, as well as mutual understanding and solidarity in international relations was noted.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed that Turkmenistan fully supports the proposal to nominate the President of Turkey for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“It seems appropriate if the name of Recep Tayyip Erdogan is inscribed in the golden pages of history as the first person to be awarded this high award in the XXI century among the heads of state and government of the Islamic world,” he added.
Meeting with President Erdogan
On the sidelines of the OTS Summit in Ankara, National leader of Turkmen People Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had bilateral meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Türkiye.
For more than 30 years, our relations have acquired a strategic character, a lot of work has been done in the political, diplomatic, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian fields, Arkadag noted.
He noted the extensive experience of cooperation not only in the bilateral format, but also in the international arena, including on UN platform. In this regard, the National Leader of the Turkmen people thanked Türkiye for co-authorship in 19 resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly on the initiative of Turkmenistan.
Focusing on the issues of bilateral cooperation in the trade and economic sphere, Arkadag said that Türkiye takes a leading position among the main partners of Turkmenistan.
Emphasizing the urgency of intensifying partnership in the transport and logistics sector, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed the need to fully benefit from the transport corridors to expand cooperation, in particular, the routes Afghanistan-Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Turkiye, Central Asia–the Middle East and the Caspian Sea. In this regard, it is possible to use the infrastructure of the International Seaport of Turkmenbashi more effectively, he said.
Along with this, the energy sector was identified as one of the integral components of cooperation.
He proposed to explore the prospects of supply of Turkmen natural gas and electricity to Türkiye through third countries.
During the meeting, the sides also discussed cooperation in the humanitarian sphere.
At the end of the meeting, Berdimuhamedov wished success to Erdogan in the upcoming presidential elections on 14 May.
Meeting with the President of Uzbekistan
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov discussed the implementation of existing projects.
The sides hailed the active contacts and exchanges at various levels, the outcomes of the recent meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, the growth of trade turnover and the deepening of cooperation in priority sectors.
They mentioned the launch of practical work on the creation of the border trade zone “Shavat-Dashoguz”, as well as the promotion of important cooperation projects in the field of energy, engineering, transport and logistics, agriculture and other areas.
Topical issues of regional cooperation were discussed, the schedule of upcoming events was considered.