Turkic Council Secretary General paid an official to Vienna on 18-20 December 2013 to address for third time the OSCE Permanent Council held on 19 December 2013 as guest of the OSCE Ukrainian Chairmanship. Within the scope of the visit, he had bilateral meetings with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, Ukrainian Chairperson of the SCE Permanent Council Ambassador Igor Prokopchuk, Permanent Representatives of Switzerland and Serbia to the OSCE, two countries that will be assuming the OSCE Chairmanship respectively in 2014 and 2015 and the Permanent Representatives of the Turkic Council Member States to the OSCE.
In his address to the Permanent Council, where TURKPA Secretary General Jandos Asanov took also floor, Secretary General informed members of the OSCE Permanent Council on the activities that the Turkic Council conducted during last one year (Link regarding the address of Secretary General is below). Permanent Representatives of USA, EU, and Norway as well as Permanent Representatives of the Turkic Council Member States to the OSCE, expressed their appreciation to listen to Turkic Council and TURKPA Secretary Generals during the present meeting of the Permanent Council.
In their addresses, abovementioned Permanent Representatives articulated their support for the development of relations between the OSCE and the regional organizations such as the Turkic Council, as long as these organizations respect to the principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act, considered founding document of the OSCE and contribute to the promotion of a climate of peace and trust in the OSCE area. In addition to this, they emphasized on the importance of exchanging experience with regional organizations to increase functional effectiveness of the OSCE. On the other hand, Permanent Representative of Armenia made a critical speech for participation of the Turkic Council to the Kyiv Ministerial Council Meeting that was not supported by the audience and remained isolated.
During the meetings between Secretary General Halil Akıncı and Permanent Representatives of the Turkic Council Member States, Akıncı congratulated the Representatives for cooperation and solidarity that they have extended regarding the issues of the OSCE. In the meetings where Permanent Representatives were informed about the activities of the Turkic Council, the parties focused on further contribution of Member States Permanent Representatives to raise recognition of the Council within the OSCE and to increase cooperation between two Organizations.
During the meeting between Secretary General Akıncı and Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, Secretary Generals took up the issue of strengthening cooperation between Secretariats of the two Organizations as a matter of priority. In addition to this, they underlined the benefits of taking joint actions with regional organizations composed by participating states of the OSCE on promotion of regional stability and peace as well as prevention of possible regional conflicts. On this occasion, Secretary General Akıncı invited Lamberto Zannier to the Headquartes of the Turkic Council in Istanbul to discuss at length ways and means of increasing cooperation between the two Secretariat.
During the meeting between Secretary General Akıncı and Ukrainian Chairperson of the OSCE Permanent Council Ambassador Igor Prokopchuk, the parties exchanged views on issues followed and launched by the Ukrainian Chairmanship, including the Helsinki+40 Process-Road Map. Furthermore, they underlined that inviting the Turkic Council to the Kyiv Ministerial Council Meeting held on 5-6 December 2013 as guest of the Ukrainian Chairmanship has contributed to development of relations between the OSCE and regional organizations.
Secretary General Akıncı has also bilateral meetings with Permanent Representatives of Switzerland and Serbia to the OSCE, two other participating states of Troika that will assume OSCE Chairmanship respectively in 2014 and 2015. In this regard, they noted the importance of enforcing cooperation between the two Organizations during the 2014 and 2015 OSCE Chairmanships with a similar momentum gained during Ukrainian Chairmanship.
Secretary General continued to exchange information and views in detail with Permanent Representatives of other OSCE participating states during the official lunch offered by the Ukrainian Chairmanship in honor of completion of its term. The participants of the lunch showed significant interest to the activities of Turkic Council especially on the areas of economy, transportation and customs affairs. During the lunch, Permanent Representatives of the USA and of some member countries of the EU addressed questions on the role to be assumed by the Turkic Council to develop East-West Transportation Corridor. In this regard, projects providing stability and development in the region conducted by the Turkic Council, as an organization based on brotherhood, attracted remarkable attention. This attention has been a proof that the activities of the Turkic Council will be closely followed by all OSCE participating states.
