Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the 9th Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Addressing the 9th OTS Summit, Erdoğan said: “It will be beneficial to put into practice the Turkic Investment Fund as soon as possible. I believe that the financial opportunities to be provided by the Fund will strengthen our cooperation and give momentum to our activities.”

“We are going through a fragile period that offers risks as well as opportunities”

“We are going through a fragile period that offers risks as well as opportunities to our countries,” Erdoğan noted and added: “We see that it is critical more than ever for us to strengthen the cooperation, solidarity, and harmony among us during this period. We are making every effort in order for the conflicts, which have been continuing in Ukraine for nine months, to end through a just peace. While doing that, we make necessary interventions to avert a food crisis as well.”

“The peace process in the southern Caucasus maintains its fragility despite all the efforts of brotherly Azerbaijan. I wish Allah’s mercy upon our august martyrs and well-being to our ghazis on the second anniversary of the Karabakh Victory, which we observed on November 8. I once again congratulate the Azerbaijani people in the person of our brother Ilham. Just as we have done in their rightful cause, so too we stand with Azerbaijan in their quest for peace,” Erdoğan said.

“We should increase our cooperation in averting and managing irregular migration”

Drawing attention to Türkiye’s ongoing fight against PKK/PYD/YPG, FETO, DAESH and Al Qaeda terrorist organizations, Erdoğan went on to say: “We will not stop until the terror threat to our country is completely eliminated, and will continue to raze the caves of terrorists to the ground. We trust in the support of you, our brothers and sisters, in our fight against FETO, a murder and spy network. Let me reiterate that we stand ready for all kinds of cooperation with you in terms of the elimination of FETO.”

Stressing that Türkiye had been hosting the greatest number of refugees since 2014, Erdoğan continued as follows: “We have been hosting nearly 5 million oppressed people, 3.6 million of whom have come from Syria. We deem it to be beneficial to increase our cooperation in averting and managing irregular migration. In this regard, it will be accurate to develop a joint security concept and continue the meetings of Security Council secretaries.”

Noting that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus had become an observing state of the Organization, President Erdoğan said: “We have contributed to the peace process by showing that our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters, an inseparable part of the Turkic world, are not alone. I thank each and every one of you for displaying this will of solidarity.”

 “2040-Turkic world vision document constitutes the framework of our cooperation”

Reminding that the historic summit held in Istanbul the previous year had served as a milestone for the consolidation of the institutional unity within the Turkic world, Erdoğan stated: “As we transformed our council into an organization, we laid the groundwork for a unique and efficient structure as well. The 2040-Turkic World Vision document, which we adopted in Istanbul, constitutes the framework of our cooperation. We want to strengthen our cooperation in such areas as politics, security, trade, customs, transportation, energy, healthcare, informatics, education, youth and sports. The strategy document we have adopted today offers us a roadmap. Let us closely follow the implementation of each element in our strategy document.”

“It will be beneficial to put into practice the Turkic Investment Fund as soon as possible. I believe that the financial opportunities to be provided by the Fund will strengthen our cooperation and give momentum to our activities. We attach importance to deepening our ties in the areas of trade, transportation and energy. The Türkiye-Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan and the Türkiye-Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan foreign affairs, transportation, trade and economy ministerial meetings have all been critical steps we have taken timely. I think it would benefit all of us to increase the number of such mechanisms and widen their scopes,” Erdoğan said.

“Our common geography lies at the intersection of strategic energy corridors”

Drawing attention to the opportunities the recent developments offer to make the Middle Corridor more effective, President Erdoğan recalled that an important leg of the Middle Corridor was completed with the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway’s entry into use in October 2017.

Noting that Türkiye, for its part, put into service mega projects such as Marmaray, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Eurasia Tunnel, Istanbul Airport, Osmangazi Bridge and 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, Erdoğan said: “Even though the total trade volume of our countries has reached $700bln, only %5.5 of this figure originates from trade among the OTS members. Boosting this rate should be our main priority. Abolishing or reducing the customs fees along the route covered by the Trans-Caspian East-West Middle Corridor and facilitating the transit freight transport will enhance our trade volume. It is therefore pleasing that the Agreement on International Combined Freight Transport has been signed.”

“The signing of the free trade agreement in the area of services and investments for the free movement of goods and services except for properties as well as of the trade facilitation strategy document during the summit is of importance as well,” Erdoğan said, and added: “Our common geography lies at the intersection of strategic energy corridors. In fact, Türkiye, for some time now, has uninterruptedly been taking steps that contribute to its own energy supply security as well as that of the region. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline is one of the most successful energy projects globally. The Southern Gas Corridor, on the other hand, has been designed as the fourth artery to transfer gas to Europe. This corridor, at which the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline serves as the backbone, can further be enhanced with the additional supply of gas. The Caspian Basin is the first resource to come to mind in this regard.”

Drawing attention to the importance Türkiye attaches to energy cooperation processes and joint projects both within the OTS and at a bilateral level, Erdoğan highlighted that scientific works should be increased in order for the young generation to get more familiar with their common language, history, geography, and culture.

Recalling that the fifth of the World Nomad Games would take place in Kazakhstan in 2024, Erdoğan stated: “I believe that you will support our proposal for the formation of the Permanent Committee of World Nomad Games under our Organization. An important change of office is taking place at the secretariat of our organization. I thank Mr. Amreyev, who has devotedly and successfully served as the OTS Secretary General for 3 years, for all the contributions he has made to the OTS. I am fully confident that the new Secretary General, Mr. Omuraliev, too, will perfectly fulfill this duty. I thank all who have contributed to the organization of the summit, particularly our host, Uzbekistan. I wish success to Uzbekistan during its term presidency. I hope our summit may be auspicious for our countries and the region.” (ILKHA)