Speech by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the summit of the Organization of Turkic States

Dear heads of delegations!

I am sincerely glad to meet you, dear friends, in a unique city Gabala, which has been one of the important trade and cultural centers on the Great Silk Road since ancient times.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, respected Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev, for organizing the summit at a high level and traditional hospitality.

In recent years, directly on your initiative, we visited many regions of modern Azerbaijan. We have witnessed how beautiful Karabakh is being improved more and more every day, we see enormous creative work in the cities of Shusha, Khankendi, Agdam. As your close friends, we are, of course, very happy about these positive processes.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that the Declaration of Peace with Armenia, signed thanks to your strong political will, is a common victory for the Turkic states. This historic agreement opens up wide opportunities for our countries to cooperate in trade, economics, transport and humanitarian areas.

Dear colleagues!

I express my gratitude to His Excellency the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, respected Sadyr Nurgozhoevich Japarov, for his effective chairmanship of the Organization during the year and his worthy contribution that our cooperation has reached a new level.

Our current meeting on the topic “Regional Peace and Security” is taking place in the context of complex geopolitical changes and growing security threats in the world. The colleagues who spoke before me expressed their opinions and proposals on these issues.

At the recent anniversary session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the speeches and approaches of world leaders once again demonstrated the lack of a common position regarding the architecture of politics and security of the modern world.

The time itself requires us to deeply reform and improve the system of global governance, increasing the role of the UN and its Security Council. In particular, an important task is to strengthen close cooperation in order to strengthen the place and voice of developing states.

The most painful problems of the world, the escalating conflicts and wars on the Eurasian continent with no end in sight, certainly have a negative impact on our states.

We are all seriously concerned about the tragedy in the Gaza Strip, the situation around Ukraine, the problems of the Iranian nuclear program and issues of stability in Afghanistan.

We welcome the aspirations and new plans of the leading world powers to create a fair world order, ensure mutual trust and security.

I believe that in order to deeply analyze the global situation and make the necessary decisions, time requires joint meetings of the ministers of foreign affairs and the heads of the intelligence services of the Organization of Turkic States. We take the initiative to hold the first joint meeting next year in Samarkand.

Dear heads of delegations!

As the analysis shows, in a short time the Organization of Turkic States has become one of the rapidly developing authoritative international structures. This is clearly evidenced, first of all, by the expansion of high-level political dialogue between our countries, the strengthening of mutual trust, and the active implementation of practical partnership projects and humanitarian programs.

I'll give just one example. Today, within the framework of our Organization, practical cooperation is carried out in more than thirty-five areas. The volume of mutual trade between our countries is growing steadily, and is expected to double by 2030.

I would like to separately dwell on a number of issues on the agenda.

Our priority task is to further increase the authority and potential of the Organization, strengthening in the near future its role as a platform for effective cooperation.

In this regard, we support the speedy coordination and adoption of the Treaty on Strategic Partnership, Eternal Friendship and Brotherhood between the Turkic States. Of course, as the main political document for the development of our cooperation, this important agreement will serve as a solid basis for the further rapprochement of our fraternal peoples and bringing practical ties to a new level.

In order to further expand and accelerate the dynamics of our multifaceted partnership, we propose to develop a Development Strategy of the Organization until 2030 and a separate road map. We consider it appropriate to include the following specific directions and measures in them.

Firstly,we consider the development of trade and economic relations and the deepening of industrial cooperation between our countries as the main direction.

We advocate the formation in the near future within the framework of our Organization of a Space of new economic opportunities. First of all, we are talking about creating the most favorable conditions, legal framework and infrastructure for trade, business and mutual investments.

In order to consistently develop practical cooperation and develop specific projects, in particular, coordination of plans within the framework of the Turkic Investment Fund, the time has come to create the Permanent Council of Turkic States for Economic Partnership. It is important that this structure is managed by the deputy prime ministers of our countries; it must operate on a permanent basis. We are ready to locate the Council's Project Office in Tashkent.

Within the Council, we can implement a number of new initiatives. In particular, the constant attention of the Council should include the following issues: creating an Industrial Alliance of Turkic States and thereby promoting cooperation projects of our leading companies in the field of mechanical engineering, mining, electrical engineering, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, light industry, food industry, production of building materials; implementation of the electronic system “Turkic Green Corridors” in order to further increase the volume of mutual trade and convergence of technical regulations; creating a “Green Transformation” consortium for the joint implementation of projects on “green” energy, “green” hydrogen and ammonia, attracting advanced technologies, standards and competencies, and widespread introduction of public-private partnership mechanisms; development of a strategic mineral resource base and production of value-added products.

At the same time, it is important to adopt a practical Cooperation Program based on the principle of "raw materials - processing - science and technology - finished product."

Secondly,in ensuring food security, our countries can become world leaders in production and supply organic agricultural products.

According to FAO analysis, today the global market for organic products exceeds $225 billion, and in the future this figure is expected to grow by 10 percent annually.

Based on the potential of our countries in this area, we need to strengthen scientific research and selection, industrial cooperation and logistics connections to produce high-quality and in-demand organic products.

In the future, our organic products could enter the global market under a single brand. In this regard, we propose to create an Expert Working Group under the control of the Ministers of Agriculture of our countries, select the first “pilot” projects and implement them.

Thirdly,we are all deeply aware of the need to strengthen the transport interconnection of the Turkic states and pursue a coordinated policy in the development of international transit corridors.

We fully support everyone the above plans for the consistent development of the Middle Corridor. The main thing is that this corridor is competitive. It should provide the most favorable conditions for the business community.

In this regard, we attach great importance to the use of optimal transit tariffs, projects for the development of modern transport infrastructure and the introduction of digital customs procedures.

It should be emphasized that in the case of connecting the Middle Corridor with the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway under construction and the promising Trans-Afghan With this corridor, we will achieve the creation of a multi-sectoral strategic highway system in our vast region.

I am confident that all our initiatives related to the transport sector will be fully discussed within the framework of the International Forum on Multimodal Transport, which will be held in Tashkent on November 12. We count on the active participation in it of national delegations consisting of ministers of transport, heads of large logistics companies and associations, scientists and experts.

Fourth,when it comes to large-scale industrial and infrastructure projects, the introduction of effective financial instruments is of particular importance.

In this regard, we certainly advocate expanding activities Turkic Investment Fund. Along with this, in order to attract additional funds for priority projects, we propose to adopt a Strategic Cooperation Program with the Islamic Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other international and national financial development institutions.

Fifthly,the areas of artificial intelligence, digitalization and the creative economy are becoming important drivers for the sustainable development of our countries.

To unite our efforts in these directions, we propose to adopt the “Roadmap for the implementation of projects in the field of artificial intelligence and creative economy.”

We also take the initiative to hold the International Exhibition of the Turkic World in our country.

Sixthly,it is important to bring our cooperation in the field of science and education to a new level based on the principle of “Enlightenment against ignorance.”

In 2025–2026, Uzbekistan will chair the Union of Turkic Universities, uniting more than 100 universities. Next week the General Assembly of the Union will be held in Tashkent.

During our chairmanship, we will make a proposal to hold Days of Turkic Science and Innovation.

In order to strengthen cooperation in this area and stimulate the research of talented scientists in Uzbekistan, the International University of Turkic States is starting its activities. It seems appropriate to develop a program to support joint research on the basis of this university.

Seventhly,in order to prevent the spread of alien and destructive ideas among our youth, I propose to adopt an Action Plan to combat extremist and radical ideology in the Turkic states.

Along with this, we will continue close dialogue aimed at combating all manifestations of Islamophobia.

In addition, an important step will undoubtedly be the development within our Organization of joint measures for environmental education of young people.

I would like to draw your attention to one more issue. Next year we will widely celebrate the 585th anniversary of the great poet and thinker Alisher Navoi and the 885th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi.

In order to further popularize their ideas of humanism, friendship and brotherhood, priceless literary heritage, we propose to hold an international scientific conference “Creativity of Nizami Ganjavi and Alisher Navoi in the spiritual life of the Turkic world."

Dear heads of delegations!

In conclusion, I wish great success to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, respected Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev, who is assuming the post of Chairman of our Organization.

I am convinced that the Gabala Declaration adopted today will serve the implementation of jointly promoted us noble initiatives and plans and will make a worthy contribution to the overall development of our states and the prosperity of our fraternal peoples.

Thank you for your attention.

Official website of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan