President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is participating in the Informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in the city of Turkistan, Kazakhstan.

President Ilham Aliyev was welcomed by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

The President of Azerbaijan and other heads of state posed together for photographs.

President Ilham Aliyev addressed the Informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich,

Dear heads of state,

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the warm hospitality extended to us. I am pleased to be in the city of Turkistan, which possesses an ancient and rich historical and cultural heritage. Following the liberation of Azerbaijan’s cultural capital, Shusha, the first city it was twinned with was Turkistan. Our ancient cities, much like our peoples, are brothers.

To demonstrate the close ties between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, one only needs to look at the reciprocal visits conducted at the presidential level. This is my eighth visit to Kazakhstan over the past five years. President Tokayev, in turn, has visited Azerbaijan six times. The Joint Declaration signed four years ago elevated our relations to the level of an alliance.

It is gratifying that the initiative for the informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States, held for the first time in Shusha in 2024, is already becoming a tradition.

Today, the international standing of the Organization of Turkic States is growing, and its role and position in global affairs are strengthening. Having assumed the chairmanship at the Gabala Summit in October last year, Azerbaijan is working toward further deepening cooperation within the framework of the organization.

In the coming days, within the framework of the 13th session of the UN World Urban Forum to be held in Baku, a high-level urban dialogue of the Organization of Turkic States will be organized.