Shavkat Mirziyoyev: Participation in the Turkic Council fully meets the fundamental interests of our people

The seventh Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States was held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on October 15.

The meeting saw heads of the member states of the organization - President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbay Jeenbekov, the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Nursultan Nazarbayev. The event was also attended by Prime Minister of Hungary (observer country) Viktor Orban, as well as Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Purli Agamuradov.

For Uzbekistan, it was the first participation in the Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council) as a full member. Our country joined this authoritative international structure this year.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev has repeatedly noted that the interests of our country are the main goal and key principle of Uzbekistan's foreign policy. Following this principle, Uzbekistan pursues an open, friendly and pragmatic policy. As a result, the number of friends and partners of our country has been growing in the international arena in recent years. A completely new atmosphere of political and economic partnership has been formed in relations with neighboring countries, near and far abroad. New directions, forms and mechanisms of international cooperation are being introduced.

The Turkic Council is another such new platform. This organization was established on October 3, 2009 in the Azerbaijani city of Nakhichevan, the first members were Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

In recent years, Uzbekistan's cooperation with these countries has significantly strengthened. Top-level and high-level visits were carried out. The President of our country as an honored guest participated in the Summit of the Turkic Council, held on September 3, 2018 in the Kyrgyz city of Cholpan-ATA. On October 5 this year, Tashkent hosted a meeting of the Business Council and an Investment Forum of Turkic-Speaking States.

Finally, on September 14 of this year, the Republic of Uzbekistan ratified the Nakhichevan agreement on the establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States.

The main goal of the organization is to strengthen trust and ties between fraternal countries, develop cooperation in trade, economy, transport, energy, tourism and cultural and humanitarian sphere, coordinate efforts to ensure peace and security in the region.

All participating countries welcomed Uzbekistan's accession to the Turkic Council. Officials and experts unanimously noted the historical role of our people in the fate of the Turkic peoples, the huge potential and importance of Uzbekistan for the organization.

In his speech at the summit, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that Uzbekistan's accession to the organization is a reflection of natural historical processes. In the ancient land of Uzbekistan, glorious pages of our common history were created, this land has nurtured scientists and thinkers who have made an invaluable contribution to the development of world science and culture, such as Muhammad Khorezmi, Ahmad Ferghani, Abu Rayhan Beruni, Ibn Sina, Mirzo Ulugbek, great theologians who left a bright mark in the history of our sacred religion, including Imam Bukhari, Imam Termizi, Imam Maturidi, Bahauddin Naqshband, as well as such a great poet as Alisher Navoi, who united the Turkic world with his beautiful works. Not only the Uzbek people, but all of us are proud of their names.

- Participation in the Turkic Council fully meets the fundamental interests of our people. Today, not only our cultural and spiritual ties, but also our trade and economic relations have reached a new level. Over the past three years, the volume of mutual trade between our countries has almost doubled, and more than a thousand joint ventures have been established. Transport links are expanding, the number of visa-free tourist trips is growing, the bonds of brotherhood of our peoples are strengthening – " the head of our state said.