Turkey to host 8th Summit of Turkic Council

ANKARA

The Eighth Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) will be hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Nov. 12. with the theme “Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age” on an island southeast of Istanbul, the Turkish Presidency said Thursday in a statement.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart K. Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, which is an observer state, will attend the summit, which will be held on Democracy and Freedoms Island in the Sea of Marmara, said the statement.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will also be attending on behalf of Turkmenistan, which will be taking part in the summit for the first time as an observer member.

Important decisions on the functioning and future of the organization including the changing of its name to the Organization of Turkic States and the adoption of a “Vision Document” for the next two decades are expected to be taken at the summit, the statement said.

Ways to further develop cooperation among the friendly countries in every field will also be discussed at the summit, during which Turkey will assume the presidency of the organization from Azerbaijan.

Also, Erdogan will hold bilateral talks with his counterparts on the sidelines of the summit, the statement added.

The Turkic Council was formed in 2009 to promote cooperation among Turkic-speaking states. It consists of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan as member countries and Hungary as an observer state.