BAKU, Azerbaijan

The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) has agreed to maximize cooperation on parliamentary diplomacy to protect common interests, said a top Turkish lawmaker on Thursday.

The comments by Fuat Oktay, chair of the Turkish parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, came after a meeting of his OTS counterparts in Baku, Azerbaijan that discussed the liberation of Karabakh from Armenian occupation, recent floods in Kazakhstan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' observer status in the group.

Oktay said they also discussed the establishment of bilateral, multilateral cooperation and consultation mechanisms at the parliamentary level, and the necessary steps for their regular functioning to realize the Turkic World Vision 2040.

The meeting agreed to launch work on improving cooperation between the OTS Foreign Affairs Committees, use parliamentary diplomacy effectively, and hold a working meeting in Türkiye this fall, he said.

Contribute to regional peace, prosperity

Oktay stressed that Türkiye is willing to undertake the creation of an institutional platform for the active use of parliamentary diplomacy channels within the OTS, a proposal welcomed by other stakeholders.

On ongoing global crises and conflicts, he said: "The OTS is united to contribute to regional peace and prosperity. We will (soon) see the result."

He underlined the Turkic countries’ rich natural resources and human capital and said there was great potential in terms of their economies and peoples.

"Once utilized, we will contribute to not just regional, but global development, peace and prosperity as well."

*Writing by Serdar Dincel in Istanbul