The 17th Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) meeting in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on May 1-2 will give the common journey of the Turkic world new strength and momentum, the council's chair, Binali Yıldırım, said Friday.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Yıldırım underlined the importance of holding the meeting in the TRNC. “This (meeting) is the best and clearest answer to the slander made toward our organization and members in recent times, by holding a meeting of elders, an important organ of the Organization of Turkic States, in Northern Cyprus today."
Reiterating that the TRNC has observer status in the OTS, Yıldırım indicated that on Thursday, the council met with TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu and had the opportunity to evaluate targets and projects.
Yıldırım emphasized that 16 different agreements and decisions were signed at the Bishkek summit, which was organized with the theme of "Security for All" to further strengthen the Turkic world, as well as to emphasize the importance of economic integration, sustainable development and the digital future, and to realize the 2040 vision of Turkic countries.
He also reminded that the leaders summit of the OTS will be held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest on May 20-22. “We will see some developments there. We will make important decisions such as Uzbekistan's membership in the Turkish Culture and Heritage Foundation, Turkmenistan's observer membership in the Turkish Academy and the Turkish Culture and Heritage Foundation there.”
The meeting, which was closed to the press, discussed issues such as the evaluation of previous meetings, OTS activities, new road maps, the location of the next meeting, a common alphabet, common history and low-altitude satellite infrastructure.
The Council of Elders is the third-highest-level body of the OTS after the summit and the foreign ministers meetings within the framework of the Founding Nakhchivan Agreement.
The meeting, held in a hotel in Kyrenia, was attended by OTS Secretary-General Kubanychbek Omuraliev, TRNC Elder Ismail Bozkurt as the host, Azerbaijan Elder Hasan Hasanov, Kazakh Elder Ikram Adırbek, Kyrgyz Elder Apas Dzhumagulov, Uzbek Elder Sadıkcan Turdiyev, OTS officials and representatives of different institutions.
The move comes as harsh reactions were drawn from Turkish officials after some OTS members’ deal with the EU to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration.
Some member countries of the OTS announced at the summit they held with the EU on April 4 that they would abide by U.N. Security Council Resolutions 541 and 550, which condemned the establishment of the TRNC and called on states not to recognize it, and decided to open embassies in the Greek Cypriot administration.
Recently, TRNC President Ersin Tatar said: “Turkic states should be a little more careful about their relations with the Greek side. They may have relations with the EU. The EU is a union, but it is not under the sovereignty of the Greeks, whose population is 800,000. Turkic states can also establish relations with the Greeks, but they should be careful because the game played by the Greek Cypriot administration is completely different.”
In another reaction to the OTS members’ decision, speaking on the issue to Daily Sabah, TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said: "We have to keep our feet on the ground. This is not a disaster scenario. On the other side, we do not cheer their decision."
