3 yıl önce

Erdogan calls for Turkish Cypriot membership in Turkic Council

Turkey's President Erdogan asked for support from Turkic Council members in easing isolation and embargo against Turkish Cypriots.

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The eighth Turkic Council summit was held under the theme of "Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age".

Turkey hopes to see the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) among the members of the Turkic Council, the Turkish president has said.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his desire while addressing the leaders of Turkic countries during the council's eighth summit in Istanbul on Friday.

"I trust in your valuable support in easing the isolation and embargo against Turkish Cypriots, who are an inseparable part of the Turkic world."

He announced that the council adopted the Turkish World 2040 Vision document during the meeting, which Erdogan said, is "a manifestation of our will to spread peace, tranquility and prosperity to our entire region."

"We must rapidly increase both our trade and mutual investments. We must remove all non-tariff barriers between our countries," he urged.

Erdogan also announced that the Turkic Council’s name has been changed to the Organization of Turkic States.

Joint combat with 'all forms of terrorism'

Stressing Turkey's determined fight against "all forms of terrorism," such as that of the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO), which orchestrated a defeated coup in Turkey in 2016, as well as those of the PKK/YPG and Daesh, Erdogan called on leaders to increase cooperation on this issue.

He added, "We must act together in the fight against Islamophobia and xenophobia, which are the plagues of our time."

On the climate crisis, Erdogan said Turkey will exert great effort to develop multilateral cooperation in this global issue during its term presidency.

Also stressing the importance of cooperation in digitalisation, Erdogan said Turkey's largest aerospace and technology event Teknofest would be held in Azerbaijan next year.

"It will be beneficial to organise it in other brotherly countries in the coming years," he stated.

He also invited the leaders at the summit to attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in March 2022 in Turkey.

The Turkish leader later presented the Turkic world honorary medal to his Azerbaijani counterpart for the country's efforts to liberate Azerbaijan's occupied lands from Armenian occupation in a 44-day battle last year.

This year's summit was held under the theme of "Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age".

The council was formed in 2009 to promote cooperation among countries speaking Turkic languages.