Statement by H.E. Halil Akıncı, Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States at 20th Meeting of ECO Council of Ministers
Mr. Chairman,
Secretary General of the ECO,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
I would, first of all, would like to congratulate H.E. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov for his election as Chairman in Office of ECO.
I would also like to extend my sincere congratulations to His Excellency Dr. Shamil Aleskerov on his appointment as Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organisation and wish all the success in his responsible work.
It is a great honour for me to address to the 20th Council of Ministers Meeting (COM) on behalf of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, shortly known as Turkic Council. I would like to express my gratitude to Your Excellency Mr. Chairman for giving me such an opportunity.
Turkic Council is an intergovernmental organization with its headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey established by Azerbaijan, Kirgizstan, Kazakhstan and Turkey by Nakhchivan Agreement signed in 2009, with the overarching aim of promoting comprehensive collaboration in all areas among Turkic speaking States.
Though we are considered as a young organization, two Summits of the Heads of State of the Turkic Council have been held since our establishment. The latter took place in Bishkek, Kirgizstan where two important agreements were signed: namely on the establishment of Turkic Academy in Astana and Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation in Baku.
Turkic Council is an organisation dedicated to strengthening peace and stability, promoting wide-ranging cooperation and disclosing the potential for common development amongst its member states.
Although it brings together a particular group of countries, the organization does not take an exclusive approach. On the contrary, by promoting deeper relations and solidarity amongst Turkic speaking countries, it aims to serve as a new regional instrument for advancing international cooperation in Eurasian continent, particularly in Central Asia and Caucasus. Our intention is to engage in mutually beneficial collaboration with all organizations having a similar scope in a transparent manner.
The fact that all member states of Turkic Council are also ECO members provides us with great opportunity. With institutional cooperation between Turkic Council and ECO, a greater added-value could be created for all stakeholders concerned. We consider that endorsement of observer status of Turkic Council by Council of Ministers is a pertinent step in this direction. I thank all the Member States of ECO.
In conclusion, I would like to extend my profound thanks to ECO for their kind invitation and express my congratulations to the Government of Azerbaijan for excellent organisation of this event and finally, wish all the success to the Meeting.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Statement by H.E. Halil Akıncı, Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States at the 12th ECO Summit
Mr. Chairman,
Honorable Speaker,
Honorable Ministers,
Mr. Secretary General,
Excellencies,
• It is a great honor to address the 12th Economic Cooperation Organization Summit on behalf of Turkic Council.
• First of all, I would also like to express my deep appreciation to the host country, the Republic of Azerbaijan, for the excellent arrangements made for this Summit.
• ECO, deep rooted regional organization, has significantly contributed to the promotion of economic, technical and cultural cooperation within its region.
• ECO has come a long way in pursuit of its objectives since its expansion in 1992, embracing the Turkic Speaking States. The expansion has strengthened the scope of cooperation capacity of the Organization.
• In this connection, we highly appreciate the decision of Council of Ministers endorsing observer status of Turkic Council and express our gratitude and thanks to them.
• As a very young organization established in 2009 by Nahchivan Agreement, Turkic Council aims at promoting comprehensive cooperation in all areas among Turkic Speaking States collaborating with other regional organizations.
• With this in view, Turkic Council as an observer will be able to benefit from the enriched experience of the ECO which has been accumulated throughout decades.
• We stand ready to promote and facilitate fruitful cooperation in areas of mutual interests and looking forward to strengthening cordial relations between two organizations.
Thank you for your kind attention.
