The Meeting was hosted by the Red Crescent of the Republic of Turkey, moderated by the Secretary General of the Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev and attended by the President of the Red Crescent of the Republic of Turkey, Dr. Kerem Kınık, President of the Red Crescent of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Novruzali Aslanov, President of the Red Crescent of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Yerkebek Argymabayev, Director General of the Red Crescent of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Djakıpov Chingiz and Secretary General of the Red Crescent Society of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Ms. Elvira Amiralieva.
Participants discussed the following agenda items:
- Current state of affairs and activities implemented by the Turkic Council Red Crescent Societies during the constraints posed by the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Ideas and pathways to guide the future cooperation among the Turkic Council Red Crescent Societies;
- Implementing joint institutional capacity building programs, share of experiences/best practices and organizing training programs in various fields among the Turkic Council Red Crescent Societies;
- Consultations on potential partnership and collaboration among the Red Crescent Societies and non-governmental organizations functioning in the Turkic Council Member States;
- Ways to develop, enhance and solidify cooperation in the field of joint humanitarian response projects among the Turkic Council Red Crescent Societies;
- Establishment of an expert-level Working Group to discuss the technical details of the cooperation areas and prepare plans to move forward.
Briefing the participants on the activities of the Turkic Council, Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev noted that Turkic Council encouraged the coordination and cooperation among the Red Crescent Societies of the Member States and underlined the importance of carrying the existing bilateral cooperation among the Member States to the multilateral level with coordinating these efforts by the Secretariat.
President of the Turkish Red Crescent, Dr. Kerem Kınık expressed that establishment of a Working Group among the Red Crescent Societies of the Member States will collectively advocate the interest of the vulnerable, expand space for delivering humanitarian assistance and increase the cooperation among the National Societies in the international fora. He emphasized the willingness of the Turkish Red Crescent to increase the multilateral cooperation among the National Societies of the Member States, establish a joint humanitarian response mechanism and Centre of Excellence, as well as organize training and staff-exchange programs.
President of the Azerbaijani Red Crescent, Mr. Novruzali Aslanov, emphasized that it is very important to establish close cooperation among the Red Crescent Societies of the Turkic Council Member States and to develop an Action Plan for joint activities. He also touched upon on Turkish-Azerbaijani joint model of high level relations as an example for Turkic-Speaking National Societies and thanked Turkish Red Crescent for their support during the Karabakh War.
Underlining the importance of acting as single voice in the international platforms, President of the Kazakh Red Crescent, Mr. Yerkebek Argymabayev stated that increasing the representatives from the National Societies of the Member States bears importance and further expressed that Red Crescents of the Member States can organize trainings for emergency response and programs on increasing institutional capacities of the National Societies.
Director General of the Kyrgyz Red Crescent Mr. Djakipov expressed their wish to continue and develop cooperation between National Societies in the emergency preparation and response, reuniting family ties, promotion of blood donation, summer camps and provision of humanitarian assistance; and further emphasized that cooperation can be carry forward in the new areas such as Financial and Humanitarian Assistance System, income-generating activities, digital innovation and adaptation to climate change.
Emphasizing the value of material sources and educational capacity, Secretary General of the Uzbek Red Crescent Ms. Elvira Amiralieva underlined the importance of increasing cooperation in the humanitarian field and reaching out as much as possible vulnerable groups. She expressed the readiness of Uzbekistan Red Crescent to develop cooperation among the National Societies of the Member States by developing projects in different fields and in fight against national disasters.
Parties agreed to establish a Working Group to conduct studies regarding the details of the joint projects and programs discussed during the Meeting.
Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev summarized the Meeting and shared with the Parties joint steps to be taken by the Member States in the upcoming period.
