Baku hosts 13th TURKPA Council Meeting

The 13th Meeting of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA) was held in Baku, Azernews reports.

In his opening remarks, the acting chairman of TURKPA and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Numan Kurtulmus, emphasized the importance of TURKPA as a key institution for Turkic cooperation.

Numan Kurtulmus handed over the chairmanship of TURKPA to the Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis, Sahiba Gafarova, and wished her success in leading the organization.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova assured that Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis will diligently work towards achieving the organization's goals and enhancing cooperation. She noted that Baku has hosted major TURKPA events four times during its 15 years of activity and expressed Azerbaijan’s high regard for TURKPA's role in fostering friendly and cooperative relations among member countries.

Quoting President Ilham Aliyev, who said, "Our family is the Turkic world," Speaker Gafarova highlighted that strengthening Turkic unity is a priority in Azerbaijan's foreign policy.

During her address, she also mentioned the significance of the 44-day Patriotic War and Azerbaijan’s upcoming presidency of COP29 in November.

Gafarova stated that the discussions and decisions on "Green horizons for the Turkic world: the role of parliaments in the implementation of the green agenda" at the TURKPA plenary meeting will demonstrate parliamentary support for combating climate change and promoting green energy cooperation among the countries.

Numan Kurtulmus, along with Nurlanbek Shakiev, Chairman of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Yerlan Koshanov, Chairman of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, expressed their gratitude for the organization and hospitality of the event. They extended their best wishes to Azerbaijan during its presidency.

The speakers expressed hope that the exchange of views and decisions made at the 13th Council and plenary sessions of TURKPA would significantly contribute to strengthening the organization's future activities.