Organization of Turkic States (OTS)
First steps of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) taken in 1992 when the Turkish Republics gained their sovereignty in Central Asia and Caucasia. The founding legal document on which the Organization is based on is the “Nakhchivan Agreement on the Establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking Countries”, signed on 3 October 2009. 10 Presidential Summits have been prepared among Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Türkiye until 2010 when the Secretariat of Turkic Council officially established. The Organisation was structured as the Organization of Turkic States during the 8th Organization of Turkic States Summit held in Istanbul on November 12, 2021.
The organizational structure of the OTS to fulfill its aims and duties is as follows;
- Council of Heads of States
- Council of Foreign Ministers
- Senior Officials Committee
- Council of Aksakallar (Elders)
Council of Aksakallar is a committee consisting of a representative from each member country, and the present Chairman of the Council is Mr. Binali Yıldırım, former Speaker of the Parliament and Prime Minister of the Republic of Türkiye.
Secretariat
Ambassador Kubaniçbek Ömuraliyev was appointed as the Secretary General of the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States by the Council of Heads of State during the 9th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States held in Samarkand on November 11, 2022. After admission of the TRNC as an Observer State to the OTS Mr.Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs paid a courtesy visit to the Secretary General of the OTS in Istanbul on 17 January 2023.
With the agreement signed between the Republic of Türkiye and Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking Countries on 27 December 2011, the Organization named as “Turkic Council”. The Republic of Türkiye was determined as the “Host Country” of the Organization and it was accepted that the Secretariat would be stationed in Istanbul. Moreover, the European Representative Office of the OTS operates in Budapest, Hungary.
Organization of Turkic States is an umbrella organization for existing cooperation mechanisms such as International Organization of Turkic Culture (TÜRKSOY), Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries (TÜRKPA), International Turkic Academy, Turkish Culture and Heritage Foundation and Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The logo and the flag of the Organization of Turkic States were introduced to the public during the 2nd. Summit held in Bishkek on 22 August 2012. The logo and the flag contain elements of the national flags of the member states.
The members of the OTS are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Türkiye. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, was accepted to the Organization as the third Observer Member State after Hungary and Turkmenistan with its constitutional name of “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – TRNC” at the 9th Summit Meeting of the Organization of Turkic States held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on November 11, 2022.
As the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, our country was accepted to the Organization as an Observer State, Mr. Kemal Köprülü, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the TRNC, attended the 5th Meeting of the Ministers and Heads of Institutions in Charge of Diaspora held in Baku and Shusha, Republic of Azerbaijan on 19-22 December 2022. Where we, as TRNC side offer our wiliness to host an event in 2023 that will bring together the diaspora academia and the academia of the Member and Observer States to strengthen their linkages and discover avenues of prospective cooperation.
Since then the TRNC continues its efforts to develop cooperation with the relevant institutions and establishments of the Organization of Turkic States and to play an active role in the Turkish geography.