Türkiye to chair Organization of Turkic States; Tokayev calls for institutional growth

Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for special attention to the institutional development of the Organization of Turkic States at a summit. Citing the Akorda press service, Egemen Qazaqstan reported that Tokayev said the organization's scope had expanded and it was working in 60 different areas. He noted that some of these overlapped, and said priority areas needed to be identified.

Tokayev thanked Azerbaijan for its chairmanship over the past year and said the chairmanship now passes to Türkiye. He thanked Kubanychbek Omuraliyev for his work and wished success to the new Secretary General, Mirvokhid Azimov. Tokayev also said the organization is not, and should not become, a military alliance, and stressed the importance of creating a Permanent Representatives Council under the organization.

Leaders including Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Sadyr Japarov, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Serdar Berdimuhamedov also spoke at the summit. Following the 13th summit, the Ankara Declaration was adopted.