Declaration passed at First Summit of Cooperation Council of Turkic States in Alma-Ata

The Cooperation Council of Turkic States in Alma-Ata has been concluded with the signing of a declaration. It was signed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva and Turkish Vice-Premier Bekir Bozdag.

The document acknowledges progress reached in reforms of political, economic, social, legal and other spheres by Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, which both recently marked their 20th anniversary of independence. The states will continue improving their ties and solidarity of Turkic states. The document calls economic cooperation the booster of regional integration of the Turkic Council.

The declaration has 7 priorities The first part states devotion to continue developing interests and ties. The role of media in Turkic states was underlined.

Concerning economic development, Turkic states will continue developing ties in agriculture, transport, communications and energy, alternate energy sources and tourism.

A special point belongs to the strategic oil pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and gas pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum. The document emphasizes on importance of connections of ports for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. It also marks potential for formation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which will open in 2012.

Another important aspect is security of Turkic states. The sides will not violate borders, sovereignty and territorial unity. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict will be resolved basing on those principles to promote stability and prosperity.

In cultural-humanitarian cooperation the summit passed formation of the Turkic Inter-University Union and the Turkic Fund for Science Research. The declaration underlines development of cooperation with the EU, OIC, CICMA, UN, OEC and the Council of Europe.

The final part of the declaration praises Kazakh contribution.

Yulia Yakusheva, Alma-Ata. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza