Developments in world show importance of Turkic states: Erdoğan

ANKARA

The developments in the world and in the region demonstrate once again the importance of the Organization of Turkic States, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, praising the growing ties between Türkiye and Turkmenistan.

“Developments in the world and especially in our region have demonstrated the importance of our union under the Organization of Turkic States. I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize again that we would like to see Turkmenistan, which is an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States, as a full member in our family assembly,” Erdoğan said at a joint press conference with visiting Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov late on Oct. 26.

“On the basis of Turkmenistan's ‘Permanent Neutrality Status,' we exchanged views on current issues facing our region, particularly Gaza,” Erdoğan said. The Organization of Turkic States brings Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as full members, while Hungary, Turkmenistan and Turkish Cyprus State are observers.

Berdimuhamedow paid an official visit to Türkiye and held bilateral talks with Erdoğan. The two countries signed 13 agreements to bolster ties.

“During the talks, we realized that we have similar perspectives with Turkmenistan on many issues,” Erdoğan said. “Our relations, based on common history, language, religion and culture, are growing stronger every day on the basis of mutual respect, cooperation and common interests.”

Erdoğan informed that the agreements signed during the talks include cooperation “energy, transport, trade, information technologies, small and medium enterprises, environment, meteorology and climate change, agriculture, standardization, accreditation, media, human resources management, youth and sports, education, culture and archives.”

Energy resources

Stating that Turkmenistan is one of the leading countries of the region and the world in terms of energy resources, Erdoğan said, “In the current conjuncture, the supply of Turkmenistan's natural gas to Türkiye and through Türkiye to global markets has gained a special strategic value.”

Stressing the importance of trilateral cooperation between Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Türkiye, the president said that Ankara aims to contribute to energy security together.

“In this regard, we exchanged views on the development of the Trans-Caspian East-West-Middle Corridor,” the president added.

The economic ties between Türkiye and Turkmenistan are also growing, with the Turkish companies operating in the latter having carried out more than $50 billion worth of contracting projects, Erdoğan stated.

“While we are proud of this, we hope that our cooperation in this field will continue to increase. The Türkiye-Turkmenistan Business Forum organized today also helped to improve the interaction between our businessmen and relevant institutions,” he said.