Turkic world sets up investment fund to boost economic integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Center), President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Left), President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev (2nd Right), President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev (Right) and President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov (Right) pose for a family photo during an Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), in Ankara, Türkiye, March 16, 2023. (AFP Photo)

by Daily Sabah

Mar 16, 2023 7:54 pm

The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) signed a founding agreement to set up a fund that will aim at boosting economic integration among the member countries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday.

The deal came on the sidelines of the extraordinary summit of the OTS leaders in Türkiye's capital Ankara.

"The signing of the Founding Agreement of the Turkic Investment Fund has been one of the concrete achievements of our summit," Erdoğan said in a televised address.

"I believe that the Turkic Investment Fund will contribute to economic integration in the Turkic world," the president noted.

Istanbul will be the host city of the fund, he added.

Formerly called the Turkic Council, the OTC is an international organization comprising prominent independent Turkic countries that work together to elevate relations and union among themselves.

In addition to Türkiye, its members consist of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. EU state Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have observer status.

The leaders on Thursday convened under the theme of "Disaster-Emergency Management and Humanitarian Assistance."

They sought to elaborate on the multilateral cooperation and coordination mechanism in the fight against disasters and hold consultations on current regional challenges, especially in light of the devastating earthquakes that struck southeastern Türkiye last month.

The Feb. 6 tremors, which marked the biggest disaster in Türkiye's modern history, leveled thousands of buildings and killed at least 48,448 people across 11 provinces.

More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes, which also extensively damaged neighboring Syria and claimed at least 6,000 deaths in its northwest.

Erdoğan on Thursday hailed the engagement of the Turkic states and stressed Türkiye would always remember the solidarity they showed after the catastrophe.

"We will never forget the solidarity, unity and togetherness we exhibited as the Turkic world during the disaster we experienced," he said in the address.

"We must increase our strength in the face of current and future challenges. For this purpose, we must strengthen the capabilities and capabilities of OTC.