The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who is on a working visit to Astana, took part in the next meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

The event, chaired by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, was also attended by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and OTS Secretary General Kubanychbek Omuraliev.

In accordance with the agenda, opinions were exchanged on the state and prospects of multifaceted relations within the framework of the OTS, and current issues of practical interaction were discussed.

In his speech, the President of Uzbekistan emphasized that the voice of Turkic peoples, whose language, religion, and hearts are inextricably linked, is becoming much louder and more powerful worldwide. The organization is gaining an important place in the system of international institutions and the new world order that is emerging today.

At the same time, the Head of state pointed to emerging problems in providing global security and increasing cases of disregarding the norms of international law.

In particular, it is a matter of grave concern to all of us that the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian problem has become extremely dangerous. As a result of armed conflicts, the number of casualties and injuries among civilians, especially the elderly, women, and children, is rising sharply and the threat of conflict spillover is increasing.

In this regard, the Leader of Uzbekistan called on the parties to immediately stop military actions, ceasefire, and come to a compromise for humanitarian purposes. The President noted that the only and fair solution to this problem is to resolve the conflict based on the “two states for two peoples” principle of UN resolutions.

Mentioning the cooperation with OTS states, the Leader of Uzbekistan noted with satisfaction that the country has established strategic partnership with all member-states of the Organization. The important documents signed last year at the Samarkand Summit are being consistently implemented.

During Uzbekistan’s Chairmanship, over a hundred events were held aimed at strengthening cooperation among Turkic countries as well as important initiatives were promoted, new structures were created and close partnership relations were established with a number of authoritative global and regional structures.

The President of Uzbekistan put forward several proposals and initiatives for the further development of multilateral and long-term relations.

In particular, it was proposed to develop a Charter of the Turkic World, which would reflect the unity and cohesion of the Turkic peoples, their great past, rich culture, and ancestral values.

In order to strengthen industrial cooperation and implement large-scale joint investment projects the establishment of the Turkish Development Bank was noted as important. It was proposed to locate this financial institution in Tashkent.

Fully supporting the practical work on establishing the Turkic States Trade Cooperation Research Centre, the President of Uzbekistan drew attention to the need to effectively use its capabilities to eliminate trade barriers, widely introduce new mechanisms for increasing export and import volumes, and develop e-commerce platforms.

It was noted that the development and diversification of global logistics chains and transport corridors, and the formation of a unified transit network are urgently necessary. In this context, the Head of state supported the measures to increase the capacity of the Middle Corridor to meet the growing demand for freight transportation and the development of additional multi-network routes, including those corridors passing through our countries to China, South Asia, and Europe together with the digitalization of transport services.

It was also proposed to set up the Council of Railway authorities of the OTS countries and to host the Directorate of this structure in Uzbekistan.

In order to strengthen cooperation in the field of ecology, an initiative was put forward to establish the Turkish Ecology Forum, which will operate continuously at the ministerial level.

The Leader of Uzbekistan emphasized that creative, talented, and energetic youth will pave the way for a new Renaissance of the Turkic World in the future. To empower the enterprising and talented youth living in the pursuit of innovation, it was proposed to establish the Turkic World Creative Youth Centre in Uzbekistan.

Noting the importance of an in-depth study of the scientific and creative heritage of the Jadids, the President of Uzbekistan invited representatives of the OTS countries to actively participate in the International Conference “Jadids: National Identity, Independence and Ideas of Statehood” to be held in our country this December.

In the final part of the speech, the Head of Uzbekistan drew the attention of those present to the situation of the multinational and long-suffering people of Afghanistan, whose history and fate have been closely connected with the Turkic peoples for thousands of years.

The Leader of Uzbekistan called not to reduce humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and also to develop specific mechanisms aimed at solving acute social problems in this country.

The heads of delegations of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, Hungary, and Turkmenistan, and the Secretary General of the Organization also addressed the meeting.

Following the summit, several agreements and decisions were adopted on priority areas of cooperation within the framework of the OTS.

The chairmanship of the Organization passed to the Republic of Kazakhstan.