President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday called on the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) member states to expand their cooperation to “unlock our potential.”
"We have come to this day by overcoming obstacles, but we still have a long way to go," Erdoğan told the 11th summit of the OTS in Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.
“Our young and dynamic population of nearly 175 million people and trade volume of more than $1.2 trillion and rich culture can achieve major breakthroughs,” he said.
"We will work with all our strength to make the upcoming period the 'century of the Turkic world,'” he added, echoing a slogan his government has adopted, the “Century of Türkiye,” to mark the centenary of the foundation of the Turkish republic.
The OTS is a key international body that aims to integrate the Turkic world through shared historical and cultural values and cooperation in diverse fields, including economy, politics, education, culture, defense, security, transportation and tourism.
Today, it includes five full members, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan, with Turkmenistan, Hungary and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as observers.
Erdoğan said the decisions taken at Wednesday’s summit would provide the level of principal unity among the member states toward their 2040 vision.
Similarly, the OTS member states signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Council of Central Banks at the summit.
The signatories were governors of the central banks of Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
The states also adopted several resolutions, including one for a green vision of the Turkic world.
Kazakh President Comer Tokayev separately called a project to adopt a shared Turkic alphabet “historic” and praised deepening ties in trade, finance, investment and energy among members.
After two years of coordination, the OTS members have agreed to adopt a shared alphabet of 34 letters in September.
Erdoğan said the decision to produce a shared alphabet was a “sign of us building our shared future together.”
The Turkish president also expressed hope that Azerbaijan’s gains in the field will be consolidated on the table by the signing of a peace agreement with its historic arch-foe Armenia.
In 1991, the Armenian military had illegally occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh in September 2023, following an anti-terrorist operation after which separatist forces in the region surrendered. Azerbaijan and Armenia have yet to sign peace treaties and normalize ties.
Also addressing the summit, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev similarly emphasized the “great importance” of defense and security cooperation between the Turkic states due to global security issues.
He said comprehensive reconstruction and developmental projects were underway in the liberated territories of Karabakh where displaced Azerbaijani people are returning to their homeland.
Regarding Israel's aggression on Palestinian territories, Erdoğan said that the international community is badly failing to stop a genocide occurring in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza.
“Türkiye does not accept this atrocity and inhumane massacre in Gaza,” Erdoğan said, urging the Turkic world to adopt a “decisive stance on this matter.”
Türkiye is a fierce critic of Israel's now yearlong war on blockaded Gaza and its recent deadly push into Lebanon, accusing the United Nations of failing to sanction Israel over the conflicts and its Western allies of supporting its violent methods.
Israel has continued its devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack last year by Hamas, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 43,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its deadly war on Gaza.
Erdoğan has branded Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the "butcher of Gaza" and compared him to Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler. He also called on the U.N. to impose an arms embargo on Israel, which he said would be an "effective solution" to end the Gaza war.
On the ongoing war in Ukraine, which is nearing its third anniversary, Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye’s support for fair and lasting peace with a negotiation process involving both Ukraine and Russia.
“As Turkic states, it’s vital to support diplomatic efforts for the facilitation of peace,” he said.
Russia started its "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022, saying it had to help and protect the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk that have been fighting against Kyiv since 2014.
While several countries, including Türkiye, have acted as intermediaries to facilitate potential peace discussions, these talks have faced significant setbacks, often stalling or breaking down.
Türkiye has been a key player in mediation efforts, including during the initial 2022 negotiations, which resulted in agreements on critical issues such as grain exports.
But despite occasional proposals from both sides, broader peace talks have failed to progress, largely due to incompatible demands and underlying distrust.
