On November 21, 2023, in the capital of Azerbaijan, the city of Baku, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA) held two conferences, namely: “Heydar Aliyev and Parliamentarism” and “15th Anniversary of the TurkPA: Past Experience, Today’s Realities and Prospects”.
The event was attended by the Secretary General of the organization Mehmet Sureya Er, member of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States Hasan Hasanov, President of the Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev, President of the International Foundation for Turkic Culture and Heritage Gunay Efendiyeva, Deputy Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Sadi Jafarov, Deputy Secretary General of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) Sait Yusuf, as well as parliamentarians from the TURKPA participating countries, representatives of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The participants emphasized that the unification of the Turkic world has become a historical necessity. It was noted that the commonality of culture, history, language and religion lays the foundation for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation. At the same time, the importance of cooperation among the Turkic states in all areas was noted, and a number of proposals have been made in this regard.
Speaking at a conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, the Head of the Turkic Academy focused on his role in bringing the fraternal Turkic peoples closer together. “Heydar Aliyev made a significant contribution to the creation of cooperation organizations serving the integration of Turkic states. It is no coincidence that the idea of creating such organizations as the Turkic Council, the current Organization of Turkic States, and the Turkic Academy, was born in Nakhchivan, the hometown of Heydar Aliyev. This has great symbolic significance,” noted Shahin Mustafayev.
Then the event continued with a conference dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the TURKPA. In his speech, Shahin Mustafayev spoke about the importance of developing productive cooperation among Turkic integration organizations. As an example, the Head of the Academy pointed out the cooperation between the TURKPA and the Turkic Academy during the preparation of the “Convention on the Protection and Use of the Cultural Heritage of the Turkic World,” which was later used in the preparation of a common model law for the TURKPA member countries.
Also within the framework of the conference, an exchange of views took place on relations among the Turkic states in the field of education, including the establishment of student scholarships, as well as the importance of the unity in alphabet and terminology.
