Friday, September 17, 2010 – Turkic-speaking country leaders on Thursday ended their 10th summit in Istanbul by signing a declaration to expand cooperation, the World Bulletin news agency reported the same day.

The presidents of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan attended the two-day meeting of the 10th Summit of the Turkic Speaking Countries’ heads of state, along with their Turkish counterpart.

Turkey hosted the summit meeting.

The presidents declared Turkish diplomat Halil Akinci as the first secretary-general of the Cooperation Council, which was created at a summit in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan on October 3 last year. The council institutionalizes the Turkic group’s irregular meetings to advance coordination and strengthen ties between members.

The council’s headquarters will be based in Istanbul.

The signing of that October 3 agreement will be celebrated annually as Turkic-Speaking States Cooperation Day, the declaration said.

The leaders pledged to set up a union among universities to support the academic work undertaken in Kazakhstan’s Turkic Academy, based in Astana.

With a view to supporting the development of the private sector, especially non-oil enterprises, the presidents agreed to conduct a feasibility study on creating a Turkic Speaking States’ Development Bank in Istanbul and a joint insurance company.

They also agreed to set up a Turkish Speaking States Business Council to promote economic cooperation.

Among other points of the declaration, the heads of state expressed their satisfaction with Kyrgyzstan’s successful referendum last June, while stressing the importance of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 10.

The leaders promised to support Kyrgyzstan during this transitional period for the sake of regional peace and stability, the declaration said.

The international community was asked to participate in an upcoming International Donor Conference for Kyrgyz assistance, taking place in Kazakhstan’s second city of Almaty.

During the summit, the presidents agreed to jointly celebrate in 2011 the 20th anniversary of the independence of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan from the Soviet Union.

The first summit of the Turkic Speaking Countries Cooperation Council will be hosted by Kazakhstan in 2011, while Kyrgyzstan will host the second summit in 2012.

Central Asia Newswire