On July 6, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States under the motto “Building a Sustainable Future through Transport Connectivity and Climate Action”, held in the city of Shusha.
The event, chaired by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, was also attended by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, the Vice President of Türkiye Cevdet Yılmaz, the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, as well as the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Kubanychbek Omuraliev and Chairman of the Council of Elders of the OTS Binali Yıldırım.
In accordance with the agenda, views were exchanged on the state and prospects of multifaceted cooperation within the organization, and current issues of practical interaction were discussed.
In his speech, the President of Uzbekistan emphasized the symbolism of holding the current meeting in Shusha, one of the cultural capitals of the Turkic world, and also highly appreciated the enormous creative work being carried out in the Karabakh region under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.
It was emphasized that in a short period, mutually beneficial and large-scale cooperation has been established within the Organization of Turkic States in more than 30 key areas.
“The current summit is taking place in the context of growing global threats and challenges, an ever-increasing crisis of mutual trust. In such a difficult situation, time itself requires the development of common approaches and bringing relations between our countries to a qualitatively new level”, the President of Uzbekistan emphasized.
The Leader of Uzbekistan drew attention to several priority issues to further develop multilateral and long-term cooperation between the Turkic states.
The steady growth in trade turnover between the organization’s countries, which increased by 27 percent last year, was noted with satisfaction. The same high rates are observed this year.
“Today, our countries are decisively aimed at accessing the main world markets and reviving the Great Silk Road in new historical conditions”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted.
It was emphasized that the volume of cargo transportation along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor is steadily growing due to the strengthening of the legal framework for cooperation and the introduction of modern digital systems.
The introduction of attractive tariffs for business will contribute to increasing the competitiveness of this corridor. In addition, the importance of establishing a Single Window system and ensuring the continuous operation of customs and border checkpoints was noted.
The President of Uzbekistan noted the expediency of broadly involving the Alliance of Logistics Centers and Freight Carriers of Turkic States, recently created in Tashkent, in shaping the agenda and implementing the OTS’s priority tasks in transport.
The Uzbek side also proposed creating a Council of Railway Administrations within the organization, with its directorate in Tashkent.
Before the next summit this fall, it was proposed to instruct the ministers of trade and transport to jointly develop a set of measures to make the most effective use of the opportunities of international routes, complete digitalization of road transportation, and create green corridors.
The Leader of Uzbekistan paid particular attention to the issues of jointly combating climate change.
To systematically solve existing problems in this area, it was proposed to create a Turkic Environmental Council with headquarters in Nukus, a large city in the Aral Sea region, the region most affected by the environmental disaster.
The Leader of Uzbekistan emphasized that today, the Turkic world’s voice is sounding louder in international climate cooperation.
In this context, it was emphasized that the upcoming United Nations Climate Summit (COP-29), which will be held in Baku in November this year, will become a significant historical event for all OTS countries.
Speaking about the importance of developing alternative energy sources, the President of Uzbekistan said that the country intends to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy balance to 40 percent by 2030.
In particular, new solar and wind power plants with a capacity of about 2 gigawatts are launched annually with the participation of foreign partners.
“We are also starting work with Kazakhstan on constructing hydroelectric power stations in neighboring Kyrgyzstan”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted.
To expand cooperation in this area, it was proposed to adopt the Turkic Movement to Green Energy Concept.
The President of Uzbekistan noted the enormous contribution of the peoples of the Turkic world to civilizational progress.
“Our outstanding thinkers and ulema, well known to the world community, laid the foundation for two great eras of the Renaissance. This testifies to the high human capital our peoples have possessed since ancient times”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.
In this context, the need to strengthen cooperation in creating a modern knowledge economy, digital technologies for developing the creative economy, blockchain and cloud technologies, quantum computing, robotics, and personnel training for the fourth industry was noted.
For these purposes, an initiative has been put forward to create a Research Center for the Development of Human Capital of the Organization of Turkic States in Uzbekistan.
In addition, the President of Uzbekistan proposed holding the Turkic Youth Olympiad in Exact Sciences and the World Congress of Turkology in Uzbekistan next year under the organization’s auspices.
The President of Uzbekistan paid particular attention to the emerging difficult situation in the Gaza Strip, where about 40 thousand residents, including women and children, died as a result of the bloody war. He called on the parties to immediately cease violent activities and begin the peace process without delay.
It was emphasized that creating an independent state of Palestine is the primary condition for ensuring strategic stability and peace in the Middle East.
Referring to the situation in Afghanistan, where millions of representatives of the Turkic peoples live, the Leader of Uzbekistan emphasized the importance of the organization’s member states developing common and unified approaches to this issue.
“For its part, Uzbekistan will continue to provide the necessary assistance to the Afghan people. We are convinced that the return of Afghanistan’s financial assets frozen abroad will mitigate the social situation in this country”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.
Following the summit, the Karabakh Declaration and several agreements on priority areas of interaction were adopted.