Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are the founders of the Organization of Turkic States, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in an interview with the Azerbaijan newspaper on the eve of his state visit to Baku, Report informs.
According to Tokayev, the initiative to create the organization was put forward by Kazakhstan, and the agreement itself was signed on ancient Azerbaijani soil: “Almost fifteen years have passed since that moment, and since then our common organization has come a long way towards institutionalization. Moreover, it is turning into a well-known and authoritative player in the international arena. It is difficult not to agree with the leader of Azerbaijan in assessing the historical mission of the Organization of Turkic States. Indeed, the role of this integration association is hard to overestimate. In a relatively short historical period, the cooperation of our states has demonstrated its viability and determined the contours of the Turkic world as a new geopolitical reality. Our task, figuratively speaking, is to give this sprout with strong genes sustainable development."
The President of Kazakhstan emphasized that the potential of the OTS is colossal: “Here are just some figures: the total territory is about 4.5 million square kilometers, the total GDP is over $1.5 trillion, the population is more than 160 million people. Trade turnover within the OTS has reached $42.3 billion, and the total trade turnover of the Turkic countries with the world is about $1.3 trillion. All countries of the Organization are confidently incorporated into world economic processes, represented and actively work in key international organizations. I believe that this is more than enough for the further successful promotion of integration processes within the OTS framework, ".
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that the spirit of the Turkic countries to develop cooperation on a wide range of issues, starting from transit and transport relations, economics, ecology, science, education, art, tourism, sports and ending with research into hitherto unknown pages of our common history, inspires confidence: " In this regard, I cannot help but note the work of other organizations that are part of the OTS family, such as TURKSOY, the Turkic Academy, the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation. They not only carry out a humanitarian and educational mission, but also bring a huge spiritual charge into the lives of our peoples" .
According to the President of Kazakhstan, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TurkPA) is an authoritative international body where experience is exchanged and advanced ideas on lawmaking and development of parliamentary diplomacy are accumulated: “The relatively recently established Turkic Investment Fund is designed to create a highly effective platform for attracting financial resources for the provision of assistance in the development of intraregional trade, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as for the implementation of joint projects with international financial institutions."
Speaking about the cooperation between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan within the framework of the OTS, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that he wanted to draw attention to the consonance of the two countries’ approaches to the institutional development of the Organization: “Our countries are participants in all six international organizations of Turkic orientation, and this is the clearest confirmation that Astana and Baku see the vector of development of OTS integration in the same way. In order to bring our fraternal peoples closer together, we invite athletes from Azerbaijan to take part in the V World Nomad Games, which will be held in Astana from September 8 to 14 this year."