Euronews prepares story on OTS Gabala summit in Azerbaijan

Euronews has prepared a story on the 12th Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), which took place in Gabala, Azerbaijan, Report informs.

The article, titled "From regional unity to global influence: Turkic nations set bold vision in Azerbaijan," emphasizes that domestic political and economic stability, an important geostrategic location, favorable demographics and a young population, extensive transportation and logistics capabilities, natural resources, and growing military and military-technical potential make the Organization of Turkic States a significant player on the global stage.

The 12th summit of the Council of Leaders of the Organization of Turkic States brought together the leaders of Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, as well as Turkmenistan and Hungary, which held observer status. The OTS has long since expanded beyond its initial mandate to promote cooperation between Turkic-speaking peoples. Over time, it has expanded its objectives to 40 areas of cooperation – from infrastructure and trade to water management and even space exploration, reads the story.

It is also noted that Azerbaijan, as the summit's host country, brought up the topic of defense cooperation, which had rarely been raised before.

The summit called on countries to join forces in peace and security, strengthen the defense industry, collaborate with civil services and rescue teams, and even conduct joint exercises. Member states are surrounded by conflict zones, and security has become a necessity for everyone, said Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration.

Kubanichbek Omuraliev, Secretary General of the OTS, clarified that at the Gabala Summit, leaders adopted a new initiative, OTS PLUS, which envisages cooperation between the organization and other countries.

"Uzbekistan has proposed creating a permanent council of Turkic states for economic partnership, whose goal is to form a Turkic industrial alliance for joint projects in mechanical engineering, mining, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and the food industry. There are also plans to introduce an electronic Green Corridor system for Turkic countries to expedite trade and unify technical standards," said Uzbek Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade Laziz Kudratov.

The article, citing Kazakh Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev, describes Astana's technological initiative.

"The country's president recently outlined the goal of transforming Kazakhstan into a digital state. We held a national forum on artificial intelligence and created the LM-AI system, which runs on Central Asia's first supercomputer. We invited our partners in the Turkic Council to seize this opportunity and join forces to accelerate the digitalization of our countries," the foreign minister said.

The story also covers the Gabala Declaration, which consists of 14 pages and includes 121 points. In the document, the parties declare their intention to develop cooperation in economics, trade, and investment, with a focus on developing the Trans-Caspian international transport route, as well as ensuring border and cybersecurity.

Euronews prepares story on OTS Gabala summit in Azerbaijan