Uzbekistan to attend Turkic Council after 17 years

By Bahtiyar Abdukerimov

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan will attend the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) on Monday after a 17-year hiatus.

Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will participate in the summit which will be held in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on Monday.

Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov will host the summit which will gather presidents of Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan.

Hungarian President Viktor Orban is also expected to attend the summit as an observer.

In 2000, Uzbekistan attended a summit of Turkic speaking states held in Azerbaijan on the presidential level. The next year, the country attended the summit on the parliament speaker level. The country did not attend the summit in 2006 in Turkey, and none in the following years.

The country was not included in the formation of the Turkic Council in 2009.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Mirziyoyev’s mutual visits to their countries have improved ties between the two countries. Erdogan’s initiative has played an important role for Uzbekistan’s return to the council.

During a visit by Erdogan earlier this year to the Uzbek capital Tashkent, Mirziyoyev announced that he will join the council.

The Turkic Council was established with the signing of the Nakhichevan Agreement on Oct. 3, 2009, a date marked as the Turkic Speaking States Cooperation Day.

The intergovernmental organization aims to promote cooperation among Turkic-speaking states and to strengthen the mutual trust and political solidarity in world.