The Organization of Turkic States reflects the common political will that emanates from the Process of Summits of the Heads of States of the Turkic States.

The process began at the very first Summit of the Heads of Turkic Speaking States held in Ankara in 1992, which brought together the leaders of newly independent Turkic States, namely, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as well as Türkiye. Subsequent summits were: Istanbul Summit in 1994; Bishkek Summit in 1995; Tashkent Summit in 1996; Astana Summit in 1998; Baku Summit in 2000; Istanbul Summit in 2001; Antalya Summit in 2006; Nakhchivan Summit in 2009; Istanbul Summit in 2010.

At the Tashkent Summit of 1996, the need for regular multilateral consultations and technical meetings was recognized, as well as the need for consistent implementation of the decisions. Accordingly, it was decided to establish the Secretariat of the Summit of Turkic Speaking States.

At the Astana Summit of 1998, the Statute of the Secretariat was adopted and at the Baku Summit of 2000, it was decided to establish the Permanent Secretariat in Türkiye. However, due to Uzbekistan’s attendance at a lower level at subsequent summits and due to Turkmenistan’s reservations over some issues, concrete steps towards the establishment of the Secretariat could not be taken.

At the Nakhchivan Summit of 2009 the Nakhchivan Agreement on Establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States was signed and, subsequently, entered into force in November 2010. Also at the 10th Summit held in Istanbul in 2010 Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States became operational and Ambassador Halil Akıncı of Türkiye was appointed by Presidents as the Secretary General of the Secretariat with headquarters in Istanbul.

Since the establishment of the Organization, eleven Summits have been convened in Almaty(2011), Bishkek (2012), Gabala (2013), Bodrum (2014), Astana (2015), Cholpon-Ata (2018), Baku (2019), Istanbul (2021), Samarkand (2022), and Astana (2023). Additionally, Heads of State gathered for two Extraordinary Summits in April 2020 (online) and March 2023 (in Ankara), along with the Informal Turkistan Summit in March 2021 (online) and Informal Shusha Summit in July 2024. Recently in November 2024, the 11th Summit convened in Bishkek,  themed “Empowering the Turkic World: Economic Integration, Sustainable Development, Digital Future, and Security for All”.  

Summit Declarations

This major annual event is convened with the participation of the Presidents of Member States, Foreign Ministers and other Ministers as appropriate.