Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attended a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), ahead of the bloc’s informal summit in Kazakhstan’s city of Turkistan, diplomatic sources said Friday.

The meeting brought together foreign ministers from member states of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), before leaders convene for the informal summit hosted by Kazakhstan.

According to sources from Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry, Fidan took part in discussions held in preparation for the summit, which is expected to focus on regional cooperation, economic integration and political coordination among Turkic nations.

Foreign ministers from Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, along with the OTS secretary-general, attended Friday’s meeting.

Discussions mostly focused on cooperation in trade, energy security, connectivity, digital transformation, culture and education, as well as current regional developments, particularly the situations in Iran and Gaza.

During the meeting, the importance of enhancing the international standing of Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was also stressed.

The OTS was established in 2009 under the Nakhchivan Agreement signed by Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States before adopting its current name in 2021.

Headquartered in Istanbul, the organization has five member states, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and four observers: Hungary, Turkmenistan, the TRNC and the Economic Cooperation Organization.

The summit in Turkistan comes as member states seek to deepen cooperation in areas including trade, transportation, energy and regional connectivity.