Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA) was established on 21 November 2008 by the Istanbul Agreement signed by the Heads of Parliaments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and the Republic of Türkiye in Istanbul in order to develop and strengthen inter-parliamentary cooperation among the Member States.

The TURKPA Secretariat is located in Baku and has the status of international organization. Based on historical, cultural and language affinity, the organization seeks to develop political dialogue among the Member States by means of parliamentary diplomacy, harmonize the national legislation of the Member States and strengthen mutual activities with regard to other issues relating to the inter-parliamentary cooperation.

The highest decision making body of TURKPA is the Council of Assembly consisting of the Heads of Parliaments of the Parties. The Council of Assembly defines the ways and prospects of development of cooperation among the Parties, regulates performance of the aims and duties of the Assembly. The Assembly has four permanent specialized commissions on legal affairs and international relations, on economic cooperation, on social, cultural and humanitarian affairs, on environment and natural resources. The commissions consider the issues within their competences, ensure the execution of the decisions adopted by the Council of Assembly and during the Plenary Session, assess documentation and examine proposals submitted to the commissions, adopt reports and recommendations to be presented at the Plenary Sessions.

In addition to promoting legislative cooperation among the Member States and adopting reports and recommendations in the respective fields, TURKPA holds expert workshops in order to provide a professional input on the work of the commissions, organizes international conferences and forums on various themes concerning the inter-parliamentary cooperation. TURKPA also conducts international election observation missions to monitor the elections in the Member States for the purpose of compliance with their relevant national legislation and international standards.

https://turk-pa.org/en