In today’s world youth policies and sports have become important instruments of our lives. They have the power to change the lives of people, especially the youth if true mechanisms are to be generated. Effective youth policies and sport have the power to successfully integrate the youth from all walks of life into society and bring hope to communities with their huge transformative and constructive capacity and their ability to heal some problems that our society faces today.
The OTS Member States, having a sizable young population in their respective countries, have emphasized the importance of policies on Youth and Sport considering their educational, cultural and economic role and initiated a cooperation process in this field in 2015. Accordingly, the Sixth OTS Summit in Cholpon-Ata in 2018 was dedicated to the theme of “Youth and National Sports”. In this respect, Organization of Turkic States Secretariat has placed much emphasis on Youth and Sports activities and tried to realize various projects in the very field. So far, seven meetings of the Ministers in charge of Youth and Sports were held. Ministers took decisions on the below topics to advance the ongoing cooperation among the Member States.
Ministerial and Working Group Meetings
The 7th Meeting of the Ministers in Charge of Youth and Sports of the Organization
of Turkic States was convened on 9 November 2023 in Basgal, Azerbaijan.
The Ministers restated their commitment to the common Turkic youth and sports agenda and underlined the
importance of the work done in line with the cooperation framework of the OTS in this direction. Highlighting
the great impact of the common projects on the unity of the Turkic youth and sports, Ministers showed solidarity
in supporting the valuable developments that bolster the ties among the brotherly nations and extended their
full support for the deepening of the ongoing cooperation with new initiatives and projects.
The Ministers reached a common understanding to systematize and streamline the youth and sports events with a
view to ensure their efficiency. On the margins of the Ministerial meeting, the Ministers welcomed the
initiative of Uzbekistan on the establishment of the Turkic Creative Youth Encouragement Center, as well as the
initiative of the Turkish side on the establishment of the Sports Agency under the umbrella of the Organization
of Turkic States with its headquarters in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The Ministers also agreed that the 8th meeting of the Ministers in charge of Youth and Sports of the OTS will be
convened in Kazakhstan in 2024.
International Youth Camps
Four International Youth Camps have been organized in various cities of Türkiye and Kazakhstan so far. Over 1500 youngsters from not only the Member States but also regional countries have attended the camps. Member States give a special emphasis on the youth activities with the aim of contributing to the personal development of the future young leaders, promoting socialization among the youth sharing the same history, culture and language, as well as creating a future generation with increased sense of awareness towards the social problems. Camp activities included local trips, cultural and sports activities, as well as thematic debates on issues relating to the problems of today’s youth and possible ways of solutions. In the last Ministerial meeting in Basgal, it was decided to hold the 5th International Youth Camp and 4th International Youth Festivals within one event within the framework of the 5th World Nomad Games to be held on 8-14 September 2024 in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
International Youth Festivals
Three OTS International Youth Festivals were staged in Ganja, the European Youth Capital-2016, in September 2016, Bishkek in July 2018, and Istanbul in December 2019 respectively with the participation of 500 people including from non-member states to the Organization of Turkic States. Festivals served as an opportunity for the youth coming from different countries to get socialized and familiarize with one another. They also provided an opportunity with round table meetings and debates for discussions on the expectations and problems of the youth in our region. Organization of Turkic States 3rd International Youth Festival was organized on 2-6 December 2019 in Istanbul. In the last Ministerial meeting in Basgal, it was decided to hold the 5th International Youth Camp and 4th International Youth Festivals within one event within the framework of the 5th World Nomad Games to be held on 8-14 September 2024 in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Youth Platform
Youth Platform was established under the Organization of Turkic States with the
purpose of strengthening the relationship among the youth organizations and National Youth Councils of the
Member States by bringing them under one roof and providing them a unified representative capacity in the world.
Organization of Turkic States Youth Platform currently has around 100 Youth NGOs as members from the Member and
Observer States. Its 1st General Assembly was convened in Baku on 13 October 2019 on the occasion of the 7th
Summit of the Organization of Turkic States. The Board of the Platform was elected at the General Assembly and
started to work. At the 6th and 7th Summits, Presidents instructed the Secretariat to work to protect the youth
from radical ideologies. Presidents also urged the Secretariat to develop measures to expand the youth’s
knowledge about the cultural peculiarities of our Member States so that they can represent the culture and
language they belong to.
In the last Ministerial meeting in Basgal, it was decided to hold the 2nd General Assembly of the Youth
Platform, 6th Young Leaders Forum and 3rd Young Entrepreneurs Forum within one event within the framework of the
5th World Nomad Games to be held on 8-14 September 2024 in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Young Leaders’ Forums
1st and 2nd Young Leaders Forum of Organization of Turkic States were organized on
25-29 November 2018 in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan and 22-26 April 2019 in Turkistan, Kazakhstan with the
participation of over 300 youngsters from the member states. The purpose of the Forums is to contribute to the
personal development of the future of the Turkic Speaking youth, promote socialization among the youngsters
sharing the same history, culture and language, and prepare a future generation of leaders with an increased
sense of awareness towards social problems. A “Cultural and Arts Festival of the Youth of the Turkic World” was
staged in Turkistan on the occasion of the 2nd Young Leaders Forum. 3rd Young Leaders Forum co-organized
by the Organization of Turkic States and the State Agency for Youth Affairs, Physical Culture and Sport of the
Kyrgyz Republic, was held on 30 August – 2 September 2021 in Osh with the participation of about 100 youngsters
from the Organization of Turkic States countries.
More than 200 young leaders from the Member and Observer States gathered at the 4th Young Leaders Forum of the
Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in the historic city of Bukhara, which was officially declared as the First
Youth Capital of the Turkic World. Co-organized by the Organization of Turkic States, Youth Affairs Agency of
the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Bukhara Regional Administration on 3-4 June 2022 in Bukhara, the Forum was
attended by the OTS Secretary General of the OTS and various high-level officials from Member and Observer
States.
In the last Ministerial meeting in Basgal, it was decided to hold the 2nd General Assembly of the Youth
Platform, 6th Young Leaders Forum and 3rd Young Entrepreneurs Forum within one event within the framework of the
5th World Nomad Games to be held on 8-14 September 2024 in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
World Nomad Games
The idea of organizing World Nomad Games to rehabilitate national sport disciplines
and reviving the spiritual consciousness and historical memory not only of the Turks, but also of all
once-nomadic peoples of the World came to life at the Second Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in
Bishkek in 2012.
Based on the decisions of the CHS of the Organization of Turkic States, the first and second World Nomad Games
were organized in 2014 and 2016 in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan. Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States and
the relevant authorities of the Member States have formed the Organizing Committee of the Games. Several working
group meetings were held with the support of the Secretariat to determine the Regulation and the types of the
Games. The Regulation was adopted by the Ministers of Youth and Sport of the Organization of Turkic States at
their first meeting in Istanbul in 2016.
The First World Nomad Games, organized in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic
States and the Kyrgyz Government in 2014, brought together more than 400 athletes from 19 countries gathered on
the shores of prominent lake Issyk-Kul. The Second Games were staged in 2016 attended by 62 countries and over
1400 athletes. Overall participants are estimated to have been over 20.000 including the spectators as well as
high level state officials from all over the world. The Games that were staged in 23 different traditional
disciplines were an incredible celebration of diversity and inter-cultural dialogue that highlighted the unique
power of sport to bring different communities together under one banner. It also was very instrumental in
introducing to the world the ancient culture and traditions of the Turkic Speaking peoples. The Third World
Nomad Games were organized by the Kyrgyz Government in 2018 in Issyk-Kul. Around 2000 athletes from 82 countries
competed in 37 sports branches.
At the Sixth Summit of the Organization of Turkic States convened in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan on 11 September
2018, the Heads of States decided that the Fourth World Nomad Games to be organized in Türkiye.
The 4th edition of the World Nomad Games was organized in Iznik, Bursa in 2022. The games hosted over 40
competitions across three main categories – horse riding, wrestling and archery. More than 3,000 traditional
athletes from over 102 countries are participated in the four-day event organized by the World Ethnosport
Confederation and inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Organization of Turkic States has been
giving strong support, including contributing and taking part in the preparatory process for the organization of
the World Nomad Games.
The Republic of Kazakhstan will host the next 5th World Nomad Games on 8-14 September in 2024.
University Sports Games
The 1st University Sports Games (Turkic Universiade) was staged in Baku in April
2018. The aim of the Games is to bring together and socialize the young athletes of the countries sharing the
same history and cultural heritage through the unifying power of sports, as well as to strengthen ties of
friendship and fraternity among the youngsters and brotherly societies. Approximately 400 university athletes
and coaches from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye attended the Games where the teams competed in 7
different sports branches. Games were broadcasted live on a Sports Channel of Azerbaijan. Turkic Universiade
will be organized every two years with widespread participation from the Turkic world. The 2nd University Sports
Games held on 6-10 November 2023, in Turkestan, The Republic of Kazakhstan.
In the last Ministerial meeting in Basgal, it was decided to hold the next 3rd University Sports Games in 2025,
in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Last Update: 2.08.2024 17:32:13
