― 9 октября 2025 г.
12th Summit of the Organisation of Turkic States followed by a session gathering the Heads of State in Gabala on October 7th, 2025.
The 12th Summit of the Organisation of Turkic States went on with a session gathering the Heads of State in Gabala on October 7th, 2025. Following the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs held in the morning, the leaders discussed items on the agenda concerning the deepening of the Organisation's political, economic, and cultural cooperation in terms of ‘Regional Peace and Security’.
The session chaired by the host, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan gathered the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Sadyr Japarov, the President of the Republic of Türkiye Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The Gabala Declaration issued at the end of the summit confirmed the common will to strengthen institutional coordination in the Turkic World, preserve cultural heritage and support creative industries. The Declaration also included a new step being taken towards a project-focused and flexible cooperation of the Organisation of Turkic States under the motto ‘OTS+’, hence, enabling the Organisation to foster its cooperation with third countries and international organisations with a view to enhancing the worldwide visibility and effectiveness of initiatives undertaken by the Turkic World through global partnerships.
The leaders signed a strategic decision which will further strengthen the role of TURKSOY in the field of cultural diplomacy. Accordingly, the Secretariat General of TURKSOY will prepare a comprehensive proposal on institutional development and strengthening with the participation of ministries of culture and foreign affairs of member states and submit this work to the Permanent Council of TURKSOY for evaluation. The aim of this process will be to foster institutional capacity within a broad framework ranging from activities undertaken to increase the visibility of cultural heritage in the digital environment to joint productions and events as well as youth-oriented projects and creative industries.
Among the summit decisions, items aimed at increasing intra-regional cultural and tourism mobility also stood out. Ankara's designation as the ‘Capital of Tourism of the Turkic World’ for 2026 and the acceleration of preparations for a Joint Museum Card to facilitate travel between member countries were adopted. While acknowledging the positive results of activities held in Aktau, the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World 2025, new initiatives were also supported to facilitate a more efficient participation of young people and creative industries in cultural and artistic activities ecosystem. While participants declared their intention as to a joint proposal to be submitted regarding the declaration of December 15th as “Day of Turkic World Languages’ Family’ on the agenda of UNESCO, they also reinforced the need for cooperation in areas such as increased regional connectivity, green transformation, rare earth elements, artificial intelligence and smart production.
In terms of institutional framework, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs decided to grant Turkmenistan the status of observer member state of the Turkic Academy and the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation and approved the budgets and related financial reports of the organisation's institutions for the year 2026. Progress made in recent times in the areas of transport, customs and cyber security was noted with satisfaction, while initiatives in the fields of sports diplomacy, education and media aimed at fostering social interaction.
At the closing session of the summit, participants decided that the 13th Summit of the OTS shall be held in Türkiye in 2026, and that the informal summit shall be held in Kazakhstan.
