Today’s Zaman
03 October 2009, Saturday
Turkic world to put ties in institutional framework in Nakhchivan
President Abdullah Gül traveled to Nakhchivan for a two-day
summit of Turkic-speaking countries. The meeting will end with the
signing of an agreement outlining the institutionalization of the
summit.
President Abdullah Gül traveled to Nakhchivan for a two-day
summit of Turkic-speaking countries. The meeting will end with the
signing of an agreement outlining the institutionalization of the
summit.
A two-day summit of the Turkic-speaking countries held in the
autonomous Azerbaijani republic of Nakhchivan will end today with the
signing of an agreement that outlines the institutionalization of the
summit.
The first such summit was held in 1992 at the initiative of
then-Turkish President Turgut Ã-zal. The most recent edition of the
summit took place in November 2006 in Antalya. The summit in
Nakhchivan, where Turkey was represented by President Abdullah
Gül, was the ninth of its kind.
Today’s agreement foresees the establishment of the Turkic-speaking
Countries Cooperation Council, with its permanent secretariat to be
based in Ä°stanbul.
A separate declaration to be released at the end of the summit will
call for an end to Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijan’s
Nagorno-Karabakh, with a highlight of Turkey’s regional sensitivities.
In addition to Gül and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the
host of the summit, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were represented at the
presidential level while Uzbekistan was not represented at
all. Uzbekistan did not participate in the November 2006 summit in
Antalya, either.
Turkmenistan was represented by its ambassador to Turkey at the
November 2006 summit but did not sign the summit’s final declaration.
Nevertheless, at Gül’s initiative, Turkmenistan is now expected
to send its vice president to the summit, which kicked off on
Friday. When he hosted his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly
Berdimuhammedov, in the Mediterranean province of Antalya, Gül
underlined his view
ation at the Turkic-speaking countries summit.
Yet, Turkmenistan will not put its signature on the agreement which
will be signed today by participants of the Nakhchivan summit. Turkmen
officials cite their foreign policy based on `positive neutrality’ as
the reason for not signing the agreement.
The Turkmen policy of neutrality was announced by the late-President
Saparmurat Niyazov shortly after the country became independent in
1991. In December 1995, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution
recognizing Turkmenistan’s status of permanent
neutrality. Nonetheless, if it changes its mind concerning the
Nakhchivan summit agreement, Turkmenistan can still sign it in the
future. This is also valid for Uzbekistan, which was absent from the
summit. In addition to the establishment of the Turkic-speaking
Countries Cooperation Council, today’s agreement will outline the
establishment of a consultation mechanism which will regularly hold
meetings. In addition to the permanent secretariat to be based in
Ä°stanbul these consultation mechanisms are:
Turkic-speaking Countries’ Heads of State Council, Turkic-speaking
Countries’ Foreign Ministers Council, Senior Officials Council and a
Wise Men Delegation. Mustafa Ä°sen, secretary-general of the
presidency, will represent Turkey in the Wise Men Delegation.
The summits, which have so far been held on an irregular basis, will
be held every two years and, accordingly, the next summit will be
hosted by Kazakhstan in 2011.
After being elected president in August 2007, Gül renewed
Turkey’s relations with the rest of the Turkic world, which had waned
in recent years. He made official visits to Azerbaijan (three times),
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan (twice) and Kazakhstan (twice); he also
received his Kazakh, Turkmen and Azerbaijani counterparts in Ankara
03 October 2009, Saturday
SÃ`LEYMAN KURT ANKARA