ISTANBUL
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with leaders of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) attended Friday the official opening ceremony of the council's general secretariat building in Istanbul.
Erdogan met with the heads of member states at the secretariat office in the historic Sultanahmet district ahead of the 8th Summit of the Turkic Council.
The ceremony was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Also present was Prime Minister Viktor Orban representing Hungary as an observer state.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov represented his country for the first time as an observer.
Turkic Council Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev also attended the ceremony.
Erdogan and the foreign dignitaries later left for the Democracy and Freedoms Island in the Sea of Marmara to attend the summit being held under the theme “Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age.”
Important decisions on the functioning and future of the organization including the changing of its name to the Organization of Turkic States and the adoption of a “Vision Document” for the next two decades are expected to be taken at the summit, the Turkish Presidency said Thursday in a statement.
Ways to further develop cooperation among the friendly countries in every field will also be discussed at the summit, during which Turkey will assume the presidency of the organization from Azerbaijan.
Also, Erdogan will hold bilateral talks with his counterparts on the sidelines of the summit, the statement added.
The Turkic Council was formed in 2009 to promote cooperation among Turkic-speaking states.
* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara.
