Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Foreign Ministers Council Meeting in Turkistan, Kazakhstan, on Friday ahead of an informal summit of the bloc’s leaders led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The meeting in Turkistan, regarded as one of the spiritual centers of the Turkic world, will mark the third gathering of OTS foreign ministers in three months, underscoring growing cooperation among member states.
The talks follow a decision adopted at the organization’s 12th summit in Gabala, Azerbaijan, in October 2025, where leaders backed Türkiye’s proposal for more frequent meetings among foreign ministers.
Additional informal meetings were later held in Istanbul in March and on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in April.
Foreign ministers from Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, along with the OTS secretary-general, are expected to attend Thursday’s meeting.
Discussions are expected to focus 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.
According to diplomatic sources, the ministers are also expected to sign a decision aimed at strengthening the institutional and digital capacity of the OTS secretariat.
During the meeting, Fidan is expected to stress the importance of closer coordination within the Turkic world and reiterate Türkiye’s support for enhancing the international standing of Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
He is also expected to underline the importance of preserving freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and preventing the strategic waterway from becoming a geopolitical tool amid heightened regional tensions.
Fidan is expected to emphasize continued support for diplomatic efforts involving Pakistan and regional partners to achieve lasting stability, while reaffirming Türkiye’s commitment to ensuring uninterrupted humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and contributing to reconstruction efforts.
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.
