The Organization of Turkic States expressed robust solidarity after final month’s earthquakes which hit Türkiye‘s southern area, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu mentioned on Thursday.
“The great Turkic world was deeply mourned for its brothers lost in the earthquake. However, you didn’t just share our grief. You have exhibited the best example of solidarity diplomacy,” Çavuşoğlu mentioned on the opening speech of the Council of Foreign Ministers assembly of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) within the capital Ankara.
The assembly got here forward of the extraordinary summit of leaders of the OTS which can collect beneath the theme of Disaster-Emergency Management and Humanitarian Assistance.
“As my colleagues, you have personally shown your support. You sent search and rescue teams and field hospitals,” Çavuşoğlu mentioned.
On Feb. 6, the magnitude 7.7 and seven.6 quakes struck 11 provinces — Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Şanlıurfa, claiming the lives of at the very least 48,448 individuals.
More than 13.5 million individuals in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, in addition to many others in northern Syria.
Çavuşoğlu mentioned the group is increasing the cooperation to new areas.
“We have implemented large-scale energy projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and TANAP (Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline) together. We should increase cooperation for TANAP to carry additional natural gas from the Caspian region to the international market,” he added.
The minister mentioned that on this interval, when Asia involves the fore once more, the group should enhance the share of the “Middle Corridor” in international commerce.
Turning to regional points, Çavuşoğlu mentioned the conflict in Ukraine and the developments in Afghanistan are intently associated to the group.
“We must strengthen our unity. The fact that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is among us as an observer is very meaningful in this respect,” he added.
The recognition of sovereign equality, rights, and equal worldwide standing of the Turkish Cypriot individuals, and the abolition of the isolation and restrictions that the TRNC is subjected to must be the widespread objective, Çavuşoğlu burdened.
The OTS, previously known as the Turkic Council, is a global group comprising distinguished unbiased Turkic nations that work collectively to raise relations and union amongst themselves.
Its members are Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, whereas the EU state Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have observer standing.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
