the Organization of Turkic States
In recent years, the Organization of Turkic States entered into a new phase of expanding the cooperation areas, strengthening the relations as well as deepening the integration processes among the Member States. The last two years were very productive for the Turkic world.
Our 2021 Istanbul Summit was a great milestone. Many historical decisions were taken, such as the changing the name of our Organization, Turkmenistan’s Observer Membership, the adoption of the Turkic World 2040 Vision Document, and the decision to establish the Turkic Investment Fund.
Furthermore, in our 2022-2026 Strategy Document, which we have been preparing in this direction, we include our detailed strategy regarding the steps to be taken in this area in the upcoming period.
In addition to other areas, as the Organization of Turkic States, we attach utmost importance to cooperation in the field of tourism among the Member States. It is not only creating revenue and job opportunities but also increasing visibility of our countries in the international arena. Since our 4th Summit, which was held with the theme of “tourism” in Bodrum in 2014, as the Secretariat we are generating programs and projects to increase cooperation among the Member States, as well as attract tourists to our region.
The coronavirus Pandemic affected the activities in the field of tourism in the last couple of years but despite this challenging situation, we have continued our cooperation efforts. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, we organized 4 Ministerial and 5 Working Group Meetings. In these meetings, as well as at our Summits, new projects were raised by our Presidents and Ministers.
We have launched the Tabarruk Ziyarat project, which was initiated by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The main objective of this project is the joint promotion of the Turkic cultural heritage, diversification of tourism products and services. We would like to organize visits to cultural, historical and scientific heritage sites, as well as promote the sacred sites in our Member and Observer States, and hold regular scientific and practical conferences to this end.
We have developed the “Turkic World Tourism Capital” project at the 6th Ministerial Meeting took place in Kokand, 2021. During the said meeting Kokand was granted “Turkic World Tourism Capital” status for the year 2022. Historical city of Azerbaijan, Shamakhi will be the second tourism capital of the Turkic World in 2023.
We adopted joint roadmap on tourism to plan our upcoming projects and activities. This roadmap presents the opportunity to design the future plans on tourism in a systematic way.
We believe that travel agencies play crucial role to mobilize the tourism potential of the countries. In this regard, we are planning to establish relations among the Associations of the Travel Agencies and other stakeholders of our Countries. We hope to bring together relevant associations and travel agencies of our Member and Observers in the upcoming period.
Our Organization has worked to increase the visibility of the touristic destinations of our Member States and to promote the Silk Road region all over the world.
Increasing thematic cooperation under the sub fields of tourism also bears importance. To this end, we will establish collaboration on the winter and golf tourism among our Member and Observers.
Moreover, upon the initiative of the Azerbaijan, we will develop “Best Tourism Villages of the Turkic States initiative” in the nearest future.
As the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States, we continue our promotional activities of common projects while we are working to reveal the tourism potentials of our countries. Some practical steps will increase the mobility and number of tourists visiting our countries. For example, increasing the number of flights of the low-cost carriers among our Member States will contribute to increase intra-member tourism. Our member countries are already sharing best practices to develop the quality of services, marketing and branding in the tourism sector. We are grateful to our host country Türkiye for leading the way.
The Turkic world has a huge potential in the field of tourism. Our countries are home to numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites, as well as fascinating natural, historical and culinary destinations. By promoting these destinations, we will popularize our common heritage and attract more tourists to our countries. The Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States strives to realize this goal.