The 9th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), held in Samarkand, made an important contribution to the development and strengthening of further cooperation between the Turkic states, political scientist Ilgar Valizada told Report.
He noted that this was the first summit in a new capacity after the transformation of the organization, in connection with which it was necessary to improve the structure of the secretariat of the Turkic states, and goals were set to develop economic and political dialogue.
Valizada said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev suggested that topical issues be replenished with new ones: in particular, issues related to ensuring security and military-technical cooperation.
“There are certain prospects for states here due to instability in the world and the region,” he added.
The political scientist noted that during the summit it was proposed to improve the system of relations in the field of agriculture, in the face of the need to address food security issues, which are becoming increasingly relevant, adding that humanitarian cooperation was also in the spotlight.
“Another proof of the desire of the Turkic states to develop their cultural and humanitarian ties is the decision to declare next year the year of the Turkic civilization,” Valizada said.
The admission of Northern Cyprus to the OTS observers was an important decision taken during the summit, according to the political scientist.
“This decision is an important factor for the development of humanitarian cooperation of the Turkic peoples who live outside the perimeter of the states of the Turkic community. The president of Azerbaijan emphasized that there is a need for efforts to ensure the rights and freedoms of those Turks who live outside the Turkic countries,” Valizada said.