25th Anniversary of Independence of Turkic Countries

An international symposium “Turkic Countries in their 25^th Anniversary of Independence” held in Ankara. The event was organized by the Ahmet Yesevi International Kazakh-Turkish University in cooperation with Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and other institutions.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ahmet Yesevi International Kazakh-Turkish University Musa Yıldız opened that gathering with a welcome address.

During his inaugural speech Presidential Spokesperson Ambassador İbrahim Kalın celebrated the 25^th independence anniversary of Turkic countries. Kalın emphasized historical and social continuity of common values concerning culture, civilization, peace, humanity, morality and generosity spread from inner Central Asia towards Balkans and Central Europe.

Kalın stated "rising from Central Asia Turkic people advanced into Europe by interacting with different cultures, religions and political structures and today created their great geographical and civilizational basin". Relations between Turkey and Turkic Countries have more potential than the recent status, he added. He also warned that Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) threat is still causing obstacles in Turkic Countries. FETO is not a local threat to Turkey, rather it is a global threat to the entire world. To counter FETO threat; all officials along with NGO's representatives, academicians, businessmen and press members should be alerted and actively cooperate.

TİKA President Serdar Çam in his salutation; restated that all sister countries must fight against FETO together.

While speaking at the opening session Sauytbek Abdrakhmanov, member of Majilis (Lower House) of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, representative of the TurkPA, said that from the first days of existence as a sovereign state Kazakhstan has pursued a far-sighted policy that facilitated enormous changes. The Kazakh MP noted that Turkey was the first country to recognize Kazakhstan’s independence and expressed gratitude to the Turkish people for their cordial support and sincerity.

During the Session on "Diplomatic Perspective: Republic of Turkey-Turkic Republics Relations" the Azerbaijani Ambassador Faig Bagirov, Kazakhstan Ambassador Canseyit Tuymebayev, Kyrgyzstan Ambassador Ibragim Junusov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan Ulfat Kadyrov with Turkmenistan Ambassador İshankul Amanliyev gave information about their relations with Turkey during the period of 25 years of independence.

Yesevi Arts Society gave a concert during the symposium.