Organization of Turkic States unveils detailed road map in Samarkand
This handout photograph released by The Press Office of the Presidency of Turkey on November 11, 2022, shows Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (L) speaks next to (L to R) Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, former Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Azerbaijan's, President Ilham Aliyev, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during the ninth Summit of the Organisation of Turkic States at 'Eternal City' Convention Center in Samarkand. (AFP Photo)


The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) inked a series of documents that will function as a road map as its ninth summit came to a close in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Friday.

The heads of the member states, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, assembled at the Samarkand Eternal City Congress Center and inked a swathe of documents. These documents feature decisions on the Samarkand Declaration, OTS’s 2022-2026 Strategy, cooperation on transport between member states, the establishment of simplified customs corridors and trade strategies agreements. The documents also include a protocol for making modifications to the Nakhchivan Agreement for the founding of a Turkic-Speaking Countries Cooperation Council, approval for OTS bylaws, the appointment of the organization's secretary-general and assistants, Turkic Academy chair and deputy chair, along with the launch of a Turkic Investment Fund.

The OTS, formerly called the Turkic Council or the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an international organization comprised of prominent independent Turkic countries that work together to elevate relations and the union among themselves.

The OTS originally emerged as a summit between the heads of Turkic states in 1991 and eventually became an international council in 2009, holding over 10 summits so far.