Secretary General of the Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev had a meeting with media representatives of Kazakhstan; televisions, printed and digital media such as “Eqemen Qazaqstan”, “Kazinform”, “Qazaqstan”, “Khabar 24”, “Aiqyn”, “Forbes Kazakhstan” and “Khabar” on 17 December 2019 in Istanbul.
B.Amreyev informed the journalists on activities, objectives and priorities of the Turkic Council. He added that the difference of the Organization from many other regional and international organizations in the world is that it covers all fields of cooperation, not a specific one. For instance, OSCE focuses mainly in the field of security and human rights; the Eurasian Economic Union basically concentrates in economy, Arab League is dealing only in foreign policy area. However, the Turkic Council activity covers all fields of cooperation: foreign affairs, economy, customs, information and communication technologies, education, transport, tourism, diaspora, youth and sports, etc”.
Secretary General said that the Organization is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Nakhchivan Agreement on the establishment of the Turkic Council. He also noted that since the Summit in Cholpon-Ata in 2018, the Turkic Council has experienced the most intense and productive year of activity. He added that over the past year Turkic Council has gained significant achievements; summits have become systematic; and meetings at ministerial level are being held each month, a total of 40 Ministerial meetings in the first nine years and a total of 15 Ministerial meetings in the last year.
Turkic Council Head emphasized that with membership of Uzbekistan and opening of the European Office of the Turkic Council in Hungary, first enlargement process has taken place. He stressed that the European Office of the Turkic Council was opened in Budapest and expressed his belief that this Office would considerably improve cooperation of the Turkic Council with the European Union and other European institutions, and would significantly increase the visibility of the Turkic Council in the international arena.
B.Amreyev also underlined that in the aftermath of the Baku Summit, in a short span of time, eight countries already expressed their intention to obtain observer status at the Organization, which proves growing international interest towards the Turkic Council.
Secretary General emphasized that the 7th Summit of the Turkic Council held in Baku on 15 October was a historical landmark and turning point in terms of ending the first decade of its history which was an establishment period; and entering the next stage, which is going to be a period of closer cooperation and a deeper integration among our Member States.
Turkic Council Head expressed that economic cooperation is the key for regional and global prosperity and added that one of the most important achievements of the Turkic Council in the field of economy was the establishment of the Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TTCI). He said that the Secretariat of this Chamber has already started functionning in Istanbul and will focus on strengthening relations among businessmen of the Member Countries. He continued that within a year, TTCI organized large-scale business forums in Bishkek, Tashkent and Baku, which were participated more than one thousand businessmen.
“We are working hard to establish the Turkic Investment Fund, which is our most important target in the recent period. This Fund will support the private sector, especially SMEs in our countries, and contribute to the increase of investment among our countries. We hope that the Fund will be officially established prior our next summit and that its capital will hopefully reach $ 1 billion at the end of the following year” – B.Amreyev added.
Secretary General emphasized that Turkic Council regularly holds diaspora meetings of the Turkic World and participates in organization of the Nomad Games. He added that the Organization does a lot of work in support of the Turkic youth and in thos framework youth festivals and annual courses for young diplomats of our member countries are organized.
Turkic Council Head also gave a brief information to media representatives about the cooperation and coordination with the affiliated and related Turkic institutions such as TURKPA, TURKSOY, Turkic Academy and Turkic Culture and Heritage Fund and sharing the same agenda with them as Turkic Cooperation Organizations.
B.Amreyev noted that the Turkic Council highly values collaboration with other international organizations and deepens its relations with the UN and its specialized agencies such as UN Development Program (UNDP), UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), UNWTO and UNESCO. Turkic Council also established official relations with OIC, OSCE, BSEC, ECO, and WCO.
In response to the questions of Members of Kazakh media on the proposal made by Elbasy, the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev during the last 7th Summit on renaming the Council into the “Organization of Turkic States”. Secretary General said that the Turkic Council is in fact a full- fledged international organization and has all the qualities of a full-fledged international organization. He underlined that the Organization was established by association of sovereign states on an ongoing basis by an international treaty, with permanent operating bodies, endowed with international legal personality and acting to achieve common goals in accordance with the principles of international law. Therefore, he said, the question is only about the renaming of the Organization and that is why proposal of Elbasy is very relevant and timely.
In answer to the question on “what role do we assign to the Turkic countries in the world?”, B.Amreyev responded that the world and balances in politics have significantly changed and the Turkic World should not stand by under these changing parameters. He added that as the Turkic people, we have to be strong; we have to become equal players of this system; and we believe that the Turkic Council would play an active role on this matter.
Turkic Council Head Amreyev stressed that based on guidance of the Heads of States issued during the Baku Summit, Secretariat is now preparing the “Turkic Council Vision 2025” that will include proper answers to this and other questions, as well as the plan of actions of the Turkic Council for the years to come.
B.Amreyev thanked the members of the media for their great attention to Turkic Council's activities and expressed his hope for a continued, constructive and productive cooperation.