Turkic Council

Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council) Türk Şurası  (Azerbaijani) Türki keñesi  (Kazakh) Түрк кеңеши  (Kyrgyz) Türk Keneşi  (Turkish) Turkiy Kengash  (Uzbek)
Flag Emblem
Members   Observer States
Headquarters	Baku, Azerbaijanb Istanbul, Turkeya Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstanc Budapest, Hungaryd Kyiv, Ukrainee Turkistan, Kazakhstanf Khiva, Uzbekistang 41°00′28″N 28°58′21″E / 41.0078815°N 28.9726015°E / 41.0078815; 28.9726015Coordinates: 41°00′28″N 28°58′21″E / 41.0078815°N 28.9726015°E / 41.0078815; 28.9726015[1]
Official languages[2]	Azerbaijani English Kazakh Kyrgyz Turkish Uzbek
Demonym(s)	Turkic
Membership[3]	show 5 member states  Azerbaijan  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Turkey  Uzbekistan show 1 observer state  Hungary
Leaders
• Secretary-General	Baghdad Amreyev
• Honorary Chairman	Nursultan Nazarbayev
Establishment
• Nakhchivan Agreement	3 October 2009
• Last polity admitted	15 October 2019
Area
• Total	4,242,362 km2 (1,637,985 sq mi) (unranked)
Population
• 2018 estimate	144,074,862
Website www.turkkon.org/en
General Secretariat Parliamentary Assembly Turkic Academy Europe Office Regional Diaspora Center Spiritual capital Cultural capital

The Turkic Council, officially the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States, is an international organization comprising some of the Turkic countries consisting of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. It is an intergovernmental organization whose overarching aim is promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking states. It was founded on October 3, 2009 in Nakhchivan. The idea of setting up this cooperative council was first put forward by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2006.

The General Secretariat is in Istanbul. Turkmenistan is currently not an official member of the council due to its neutral status. However, by default of its Turkic heritage, it is a possible future member of the council.^[4]

History[]

The organization was established on October 3, 2009 by the Nakhchivan Agreement signed among Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey. According to Halil Akıncı, the founding Secretary-General of the organization the "Turkic Council has become the first voluntary alliance of Turkic states in history".

In 2012, the flag of the Turkic Council was adopted.

On April 30, 2018, it was announced that Uzbekistan would join the Turkic Council^[5] and attend the upcoming summit of the organisation in Bishkek.^[6] It formally applied for membership on September 12, 2019.^[7]

Since late 2018, Hungary has been an observer and may request full membership.^[8] In 2020, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Ceppar stated Ukraine wanted to be an observer.^[9]

On May 3, 2021, Afghanistan officially applied for observer status at the Turkic Council.^[10][11]

Mission and objectives[]

The Preamble of the Nakhchivan Agreement reaffirms the will of Member States to adhere to the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and defines the main objective of the Turkic Council as further deepening comprehensive cooperation among Turkic Speaking States, as well as making joint contributions to peace and stability in the region and in the world. Member States have confirmed their commitment to democratic values, human rights, the rule of law, and principles of good governance.

The Nakhchivan Agreement sets out the main purposes and tasks of the Organization as follows:

• Strengthening mutual confidence and friendship among the Parties;
• Developing common positions on foreign policy issues;
• Coordinating actions to combat international terrorism, separatism, extremism and cross-border crimes;
• Promoting effective regional and bilateral cooperation in all areas of common interest;
• Creating favorable conditions for trade and investment;
• Aiming for comprehensive and balanced economic growth, social and cultural development;
• Expanding interaction in the fields of science, technology, education, health, culture, sports and tourism;
• Encouraging interaction of mass media and other means of communication;
• Promoting exchange of relevant legal information and enhancing legal cooperation.

Structure and operation[]

Main organs of the Turkic Council include:

• Council of Heads of State
• Council of Foreign Ministers
• Senior Officials Committee
• Council of Elders (Aksakals)
• The Secretariat

The main decision-making and governing body of the Turkic Council is the Council of Heads of State, which is presided over by the President whose country holds the chairmanship. The chairmanship rotates on an annual basis. All activities of the Turkic Council are coordinated and monitored by its Secretariat, which is located in Istanbul in accordance with the Nakchivan Agreement. Presidents meet once a year in a previously determined Turkic city. Senior officials, Aksakals, as well as other Ministers and government officials, all meet on a regular basis.

Projects[]

Since its founding agreement defines comprehensive cooperation among Turkic states as the organization's main objective and raison d'être, the Turkic Council is working on a whole variety of projects. The projects are grouped under six cooperation processes, which are: economy, culture, education, transport, customs, and diaspora. Examples of the projects include establishing the Turkic University Union^[12] and writing a common history textbook. The Turkic Council also works on ways to boost economic development in underdeveloped regions of Member States. The Secretariat brings together Economy Ministers, Education Ministers, Transport Ministers, Heads of Customs Administrations, and other senior officials from different ministries and agencies in order to work on ways to promote cooperation in relevant spheres. Prior to being brought before ministers and heads of administrations, projects and issues of cooperation are elaborated by working groups. One recently launched project is the establishment of a mechanism for closer cooperation among Turkic diasporas all over the world.

Joint Investment Fund[]

In november 2020, Kyrgyz Minister of Foreign Affairs Ruslan Kazakbaev pointed that Turkic Council members have to strengthen their economic relations, they have to establish a joint investment fund and build its center on Kyrgyzstan on his meeting with Turkish Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.^[13] Baghdad Amreyev visited Minister of Treasury and Finance of Turkey Lütfi Elvan and sides talked about establishment of Joint Investment Fund.^[14] In September 2021, on meeting of Turkic ministers responsible for the economy, sides negotiated about a Turkic Joint Investment Fund feasibility work and agreement to establish the fund.^[15]

Affiliated bodies and organizations[]

The Turkic-speaking areas

The Turkic Council functions as an umbrella organization for all other cooperation mechanisms like:

• the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA) (administrative capital, Baku)
• the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) (administrative capital, Ankara)
• International Turkic Academy (administrative capital, Nur-Sultan)
• Turkic Cultural Heritage Fund
• Center of Nomadic Civilizations (administrative capital, Bishkek)
• Turkic Business Council (administrative capital, İstanbul)

Flag[]

The current flag of the Turkic Council was adopted at its 2nd Summit, which took place in Bishkek on 23 August 2012 and officially raised on 12 October 2012.^[16] The flag combines the symbols of the four founding member states: the light blue color of the flag of Kazakhstan which also evokes the traditional Turkic color of turquoise, the sun of the flag of Kyrgyzstan, the star of the flag of Azerbaijan and the crescent of the Turkish flag.

Summits[]

7th Summit of Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States in Baku

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the newly independent Turkic States of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as well as Turkey organized Summits of the Heads of Turkic Speaking States, the first of which took place in 1992 in Ankara. With the establishment of Turkic Council, at the 10th Summit it was decided to rename the top-level meetings to Turkic Council Summits.

Turkic Council Summit is the highlight of the year whereby Heads of State evaluate outcomes of the past period and set goals for the next year. The First Summit took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 20–21 October 2011 and focused primarily on economic cooperation. The Second Summit was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 22–23 August 2012 and concentrated on educational, scientific, and cultural cooperation. The Third Summit took place on 15–16 August 2013 in Qabala, Azerbaijan with a theme of transport and connectivity.^[17]

On October 15, 2019, the Seventh Turkic Council Summit was organized in Baku with the participation of Presidents of member states Ilham Aliyev, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as Purli Agamyradov as a guest, Viktor Orban as an observer and heads of Turkic cooperation institutions. The participants celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Nakhchivan Agreement on the establishment of the Turkic Council in addition to Uzbekistan’s joining the organization as a full-fledged member. The title of Honorary Chairman of the Turkic Council was given to the former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. In the conclusion of the Summit, the Heads of States signed Baku Declaration. Besides, the presidency in the Council officially passed to Azerbaijan.^[18][19]

Extraordinary Summit[]

Extraordinary Summit of Turkic Council focused on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic was conducted through videoconferencing by the initiative of the chairman of the organization Ilham Aliyev on April 10, 2020. The conference titled “Cooperation and solidarity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic” was held with the participation of the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus along with the head of states of the member countries. Participants discussed the measures taken at the national level to fight against the coronavirus epidemic, improve multilateral cooperation in the field of healthcare, and undertake the common challenges caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. Exchanging views on the ways of overcoming negative effects of coronavirus on the national and global economies, they touched upon trade relations and continuous transportation and entrusted the Ministries of Commerce and Transport of the member States to review the process via videoconferencing and present practical solutions for the free flow of goods among Turkic Council states across the Trans-Caspian Corridor.^{[20] [21]} An 18-point list of mutual priorities of all member nations was outlined in the Baku Declaration.^[22]

International cooperation[]

Turkic Council is an observer at the Economic Cooperation Organization. The Organization has also applied for an observer status at the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Besides, Turkic Council maintains close cooperative relations with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.

Members[]

Current[]

Country	Population (2020)	Area (km2)	GDP (nominal) 2020[23]	GDP per capita (nominal) 2020[24]
Azerbaijan	10,130,100[25]	86,600	$42.6 billion	$4,214
Kazakhstan	18,962,900[26]	2,724,900	$169.8 billion	$9,056
Kyrgyzstan	6,586,600[27]	199,900	$7.7 billion	$1,174
Turkey	83,614,362[28]	783,562	$720.1 billion	$8,538
Uzbekistan	34,588,900[29]	447,400	$57.7 billion	$1,686
Turkic Council	153,882,862	4,242,362	$997.9 billion	$6,485

Observer states[]

Country	Population (2018)[30][31]	Area (km2)	GDP (nominal)	GDP per capita (nominal) (2019)[32]
Hungary[33]	9,707,499	93,030	$161 billion	$16,475

Possible future member[]

Country	Population (2018)[30][31]	Area (km2)	GDP (nominal)	GDP per capita (nominal) (2019)[34]
Turkmenistan[35]	5,850,901	491,210	$40 billion	$6,966

Possible future observers[]

Country	Population (2018)[30][31]	Area (km2)	GDP (nominal)	GDP per capita (nominal) (2019)[36]
Ukraine[37]	44,246,156	603,628	$161 billion	$3,659

Former future observers[]

Country	Population (2018)[30][31]	Area (km2)	GDP (nominal)	GDP per capita (nominal) (2019)[38]
Afghanistan	37,171,921

Events[]

List of Secretaries-General of the Turkic Council[]

See also[]

• Azerbaijan – Turkic Council relations
• List of Turkic dynasties and countries
• List of international organizations based in Istanbul
• World Turks Qurultai

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States.

• Official website
• Text of Nakhchivan Agreement