The conference was attended by H.E. Hasan Hasanov, Member of the Council of Elders of the Turkic Speaking States from the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Binali Yildirim, Member of the Council of Elders of the Turkic Speaking States from the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Péter Szátray, State Secretary for Security Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, H.E. Tahir Taghizadeh, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Hungary, Mr. Gismat Gozalov, Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council, members of the academia, diplomatic corps and press.
In their welcoming speeches director of IFAT Márton Ugrósdy and Ambassador Farid Shafiyev, Chairman of AIR Center underlined the importance of the Conference and topics to be discussed during the panel sessions. They also emphasized the growing influence of the Turkic States and Hungary, their deepening relations as well as cooperation in the framework of the Turkic Council.
In his opening speech Deputy Secretary General Gismat Gozalov pointed out that over the past 30 years, the Turkic Republics of Caucasus and Central Asia have made great progress in their nation building processes, have become market economies and emerged as regional middle powers. He also announced that Turkmenistan will join the Turkic Council as an observer state in upcoming 8th Summit in Istanbul in November 2021, completing the missing part of the Turkic countries' family picture.
Péter Szátray, State Secretary for Security Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, talked about Hungary's deepening bond with the Turkic Council's member states, based on linguistic ties, as well as on common historic heritage. He also stressed Hungary's firmly support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders. Going forward, Mr. Szatray mentioned Hungary's readiness to increase cultural cooperation with Central Asia, Turkey and Azerbaijan and strengthen economic ties in various sectors of mutual benefit.
Hasan Hasanov, Member of the Council of Elders of the Turkic Council from the Republic of Azerbaijan underlined the brinksmanship demonstrated by President Ilham Aliyev that led to Azerbaijan’s decisive victory in the 44 Day Patriotic War. It was also noted that thousands of young Azerbaijanis sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom whose spirits rose to the summit of martyrdom and forever engraved in the memory of the Azerbaijani people.
Binali Yildirim, Member of the Council of Elders of the Turkic Council from the Republic of Turkey, stated that since their independence, the Turkic Republics of Caucasus and Central Asia have marked on remarkable achievements in terms of their state-building and nation-building processes. It was emphasized that these individual achievements brought the Turkic States that share the common history, language and culture, closer to each other that paved the way to the establishment of the Turkic Council as the “common house of the Turkic cooperation”.
Tahir Taghizadeh, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Hungaryas a keynote speaker noted that in the post-conflict period restoration activities and the return of the IDPs to their homelands will be a top priority for Azerbaijan. Emphasizing the new realities that have emerged in this period, he stressed the importance of the Zangazur Corridor as new transport and communication line towards contributing to peace, security and development in the region as well as creating new opportunities for the Turkic World.
The conference continued with panel discussions in which scholars from the official research institutes of the Turkic Council made deliberations on topics such as regional transport cooperation, opportunities for regional peace, Turkic States and their growing relations with Turkey and Hungary in the 30th year of independence and cooperation.
The event also featured a presentation by the AIR Center on the Geo-economic Atlas of the Turkic World.
Following the conference, the Representation Office of the Turkic Council in Hungary hosted a solemn reception on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The event was attended by high-level officials of the Hungarian Government, Ambassadors of the Member States of the Turkic Council, representatives of diplomatic corps, academia, press and diaspora.
