Kazakhstan hosted the Informal Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States

COOPERATION COUNCIL OF TURKIC SPEAKING STATES

     The agreement on the establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (CCTS or the Turkic Council) was signed on October 3, 2009 in Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan) at the 9th Summit of Heads of Turkic Speaking States on the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev by the heads of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. Up until 2011 the Summits of Heads of Turkic Speaking States were held in the format of forums.

      In September 2010, at the 10th Summit of the Heads of Turkic Speaking States in Istanbul (Republic of Turkey), a decision was  signed on the appointment of the Turkish diplomat Mr. Halil Akıncı as the first Secretary General of the Turkic Council.

The Secretariat of the Turkic Council is functioning on a permanent basis to coordinate cooperation, with its headquarters in Istanbul, and has been headed by the representative of Kazakhstan Mr. Baghdad Amreyev since September 2018.

     Since 2019, the Honorary Chairman of the Turkic Council is the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev.

In 2019, Uzbekistan joined the Turkic Council.

Hungary is the observer state since 2018.

    The decision-making bodies of the CCTS are the Council of Heads of State (Summit) and the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM). The working body of the CCTS is the Senior Officials Committee (SOC). Meetings of relevant ministers and expert meetings are held on a regular basis.

     On September 19, 2019, the Representative Office of the Turkic Council in Hungary was opened in Budapest. On August 27, 2020, the representative from Kazakhstan, Mr. Kanat Ydyrys, started working in the office of the Turkic Council in Hungary.

During the period from 2011 to 2019, seven Summits were held on a regular basis in the CCTS member states (I CCTS Summit was held on October 21, 2011 in Almaty, II CCTS Summit - on August 23, 2012 in Bishkek, III CCTS Summit - on August 16, 2013 in Gabala (Azerbaijan), IV CCTS Summit - on June 5, 2014 in Bodrum (Turkey), V CCTS Summit - on September 11, 2015 in Astana, VI CCTS Summit - on September 3, 2018 in Cholpon-Ata (Kyrgyzstan).

    The last VII CCTS Summit was held on October 15, 2019 in Baku (Republic of Azerbaijan) on the topic of "Small and Medium-Sized Business Development". Following the Summit, the heads of state signed a Declaration, a number of decisions, including the decision to establish the Coordinating Committee of the Turkic Cooperation Organizations; Decision to confer the status of Honorary Chairman of the Turkic Council to the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev; Decision to establish the Supreme Order of the Turkic World; Decision to award the Supreme Order of the Turkic World to the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev; Decision on the appointment of the Deputy Secretary General of the CCTS from Azerbaijan and the appointment of the President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation. Additionally during the Summit, an Agreement was signed between the Secretariat of the CCTS and the Government of Hungary on the establishment of the CCTS Representative Office.

    The Extraordinary Summit of the CCTS was held on April 10, 2020 via videoconference. During the Summit, the issues of effective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic were discussed. Following the results, a declaration was adopted.

Within the framework of the Turkic Council, there are four Working Groups whose activities are aimed at developing trade and economic cooperation between the member states, improving their investment climate, and developing entrepreneurship and tourism.

    In 2011, the Turkic Business Council was established, and 5 of its meetings were held. Memorandums of Understanding on the development of small and medium-sized businesses were also signed, improving the investment climate, enhancing investment statistics, and a Protocol of Cooperation among the National TV Channels.

In the field of tourism, a special joint project "Modern Silk Road" has been launched, which includes a 14-day trip to the cultural and historical cities of the member states of the Turkic Council.

          On May 17, 2019, in Nur-Sultan, on the sidelines of the Astana Economic Forum, the member states of the CCTS signed the founding documents of the joint Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), designed to strengthen cooperation between the business circles of the CCTS.

   Intense activity of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) and the Turkic Academy (TA), headed by representatives of Kazakhstan, contributes to the development of cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere.

In 2014, the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation (TCHF) was established on the initiative of President of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev.

Turkic University Union operates within the framework of the CCTS, which includes Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, and Kh. Dosmukhamedov Atyrau State University.

Cooperation in the field of youth policy is strengthened by holding a Youth Festival on a regular basis, organizing the Turkic Youth Camp and Turkic Council Junior Diplomats Training Program.

On April 5-10, 2018, the First Turkic Council University Sports Games (Turkic Universiade) were held in Baku, in which the student team of Kazakhstan took part.

The regular holding of the World Nomad Games contributes to the deepening of cultural and historical ties between the Turkic-speaking peoples.

The Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-Speaking Countries (TurkPA), whose activities are aimed at developing inter-parliamentary cooperation, has also been functioning within the framework of the CCTS since 2008.

   INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF TURKIC CULTURE

    The International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) was established on July 12, 1993 at the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev with the aim of reviving spiritual ties between the Turkic speaking peoples.

All independent Turkic Speaking States are members of TURKSOY: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

The observers are the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (Moldova), as well as the subjects of the Russian Federation - the Republic of Altai, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Khakassia, the Republic of Sakha, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Republic of Tyva.

The headquarters of TURKSOY is located in Ankara (Turkey). The official languages of the Organization are Turkish, English and Russian.

    Since September 20, 2011 the position of Secretary General of TURKSOY is held by representative of Kazakhstan Dusen Kasseinov, who was re-elected for a third term for the period 2018-2020 during the 35th meeting of the Meeting of the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture of TURKSOY (December 5, 2017 in Turkestan).

    The main activity of the Organization is aimed at developing the culture and art of the Turkic countries, peoples and communities; establishing mutual understanding between the Turkic speaking countries and peoples; studying, preserving, developing and popularizing the common values of culture and art, history, national language, cultural and historical heritage of the Turkic peoples.

    The directions and program of work of TURKSOY are determined by the Permanent Council of Culture Ministers of the Turkic Speaking States. The decisions taken by the Permanent Council are implemented by the TURKSOY Secretariat.

Since 2010, the cities of the TURKSOY member states have been granted the status of Cultural Capital of the Turkic World. Astana became the first Cultural Capital of the Turkic World in 2010.

Sheki (Azerbaijan) held the 34th meeting of Ministers of Culture of the TURKSOY member states on December 1-2, 2016. During the meeting, Turkestan was elected the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World for 2017.

A solemn celebration of the "Turkestan – the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" event was held on March 21, 2017.

On December 5, 2017, Turkestan held the 35th meeting of Ministers of Culture of the TURKSOY member states.

On June 6-10, 2017, Turkestan held the Orteke International Doll Festival, which was attended by on-stage performance groups from Azerbaijan, Bashkortostan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tatarstan, and Uzbekistan.

In November 2019, the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture of the TURKSOY member states has declared 2020 the Year of Abai.

 

 INTERNATIONAL TURKIC ACADEMY

    The International Turkic Academy (hereinafter referred to as the Academy), established on May 25, 2010 at the initiative of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, is an internationally recognized scientific center of Turkology headquartered in Nur-Sultan.

The Agreement on the Establishment of the Academy was signed on August 23, 2012 in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) during the 2nd Summit of the Turkic Council and entered into force on August 27, 2014.

On September 3, 2018, by the decision of the Heads of the Turkic Council member states, the term of office of the President of the Turkic Academy Mr. Kydyrali was extended for another four years.

The Academy carries out its activities in a number of areas, which are based on a comprehensive study of the cultural, historical, scientific and intellectual heritage of the Turkic peoples, as well as the desire to mainstream it globally.

Since the 5th Summit of the Turkic Council held in 2015, the Academy has held over 80 scientific events. Since 2016, under its auspices, the Great Steppe (“Uly Dala”) International Forum on Humanities has been held annually with participation of well-known Turkologists from many countries of the world.

The Academy is also actively involved in publishing. The Journal of Altaistics and Turkology is published on a quarterly basis in four languages (Kazakh, Russian, English, and Turkish). The Academy publishes GLOBAL-Turk, scientific and analytical journal. Its hallmark lies in the comprehensive coverage of social, political, economic, cultural and other processes taking place in the Turkic-speaking space of Eurasia.

Work is underway to enrich the Academy's book fund, which currently including more than 30 thousand books. The library received a personal book collection of the outstanding Hungarian Turkologist, István Mándoky Kongur, consisting of 16 thousand books. The library also has an archive of rare books and manuscripts. The Academy has a museum with over 240 exhibits.

International cooperation. The Academy has established and is successfully developing relations with international and scientific organizations. To date, the Academy has signed more than 55 memorandums of cooperation with foreign scientific organizations. It should be noted that the Academy received an observer status at ISESCO (Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), and became a member of the International Union of Academies.

On May 15, 2019, the Academy held an international forum titled “The Great Steppe: Cultural Heritage and Its Role in World History” at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Under the Ruhani Zhangyru program, the Academy plans to launch the 100 Prominent Figures of the Turkic World project dedicated to the representatives of the Turkic nations who left their mark on the history of humanity and contributed to the development of global science. This project aims to structure and mainstream knowledge about outstanding scholars of the Turkic world. For this, the Academy is planning to create a special website, as well as conduct a questionnaire at the international level. The results of the questionnaire will identify the most famous people of Turkic origin who have left their mark on the development of scientific knowledge.

The Academy has prepared a textbook titled “General Turkic History up to the 15th Century”. Together with specialists from the Turkic Council Member States, the Academy is also planning to develop drafts of a textbook titled “General Turkic History from the 15th to the 21st Century”, as well as textbooks on general Turkic geography and literature.

During the 6th Summit of the Turkic Council, held on September 3, 2018 in Cholpon-Ata (Kyrgyzstan), the Agreement on the Financial Rules of the Turkic Academy was signed and the Rules for Personnel Management of the Turkic Academy were approved. On the eve of the 6th CCTS Summit, on September 2, 2018, the CCTS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) was held in Bishkek with the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, as an honored guest. As a result of the FFM, Hungary received an observer status at the Turkic Academy.

On November 16, 2020, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Tileuberdi and President of the Turkic Academy Mr. Kydyrali signed an Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Turkic Academy on the Terms and Procedures of the Academy.

This Agreement defines the status, privileges and immunity of the Turkic Academy, as well as issues related to its property.