Türkiye, which has successfully hosted numerous international summits this year, is continuing preparations for a meeting that Turkish officials often dub a “family council” of kindred countries. Leaders of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) will convene on Oct. 29-30 in Ankara. The summit is expected to be a milestone at which critical decisions will be made on the path toward the vision of the “Century of the Turkic World,” an ambitious idea of uniting Turkic countries as an influential bloc with a say in global affairs.
The presidents of member states Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as observer states Hungary, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Turkmenistan, are expected to attend the meeting, where global and regional issues concerning the Turkic world will be discussed.
The OTS’ rotating presidency will be handed over to Türkiye from Azerbaijan. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the other participating leaders. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is also scheduled to arrive in Ankara on Oct. 28 for talks as part of a bilateral visit.
At the Ankara summit, Turkic states will launch initiatives to take relations to a new level. Economic and trade ties, transportation and energy connectivity, and cooperation in education and technology will be on the agenda. The summit will also address global and regional issues concerning the Turkic world, with discussions focusing on strengthening the OTS’s institutional cooperation with international organizations and increasing its international influence and visibility.
As the importance of the Turkic countries continues to grow in a changing global system, efforts are underway to ensure the Turkic world endures for generations to come. Leaders and representatives of Turkic states will discuss a roadmap for building the “Century of the Turkic World” at the summit. In this regard, the Ankara summit is expected to mark a major turning point. Türkiye is signaling its determination to continue these efforts during its term as chair, with the aim of turning the Turkic world’s human, economic and strategic potential into shared prosperity and building the Turkic century through unity and solidarity.
The summit is also expected to reaffirm the commitment to pursuing initiatives in line with the Vision 2040 document, adopted in Istanbul in 2021. Prepared by the OTS, the document is the organization’s first foundational framework setting out its medium- and long-term strategic goals. It establishes a framework across four main areas: “political and security cooperation, economic and sectoral cooperation, people-to-people cooperation, and cooperation with third parties.”
The Organization of Turkic States was established under the name Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States through the Nakhchivan Agreement, signed by Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on Oct. 3, 2009. Its name was changed to the Organization of Turkic States at the Istanbul summit in 2021.
The OTS’s main objectives include “consolidating mutual trust among Turkic states, strengthening political solidarity, developing economic and technical cooperation, and documenting and promoting the historical and cultural heritage of the Turkic world.”
Headquartered in Istanbul, the OTS has five member states, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and four observers: Hungary, Turkmenistan, the TRNC and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).