SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, June 30. The First Meeting of Heads of State Bodies on Religious Affairs of the Member States of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was held in Shusha city, Trend's Karabakh bureau reports from the event.
The event was attended by the Secretary General of the OTS, as well as heads of state bodies responsible for religious affairs of Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
The purpose of the meeting was to protect the common national-spiritual and cultural values of the Turkic peoples, as well as expand cooperation between the relevant bodies of the member states. The meeting will discuss opportunities for cooperation in the areas of regulating state-religion relations, religious education, legislation, management, and personnel training.
In addition, the issues of protecting, restoring, and promoting at the international level monuments reflecting the common religious and cultural heritage of the Turkic peoples, promoting interfaith understanding, inter-confessional dialogue, and Islamic solidarity, as well as strengthening the exchange of experience and information in the field of combating religious radicalism and extremism, were also discussed.
One of the main topics of discussion at the meeting was the establishment of a permanent cooperation mechanism between state bodies on religious issues within the framework of OTS. This initiative will serve to strengthen coordination between member states, develop mutual activity on an institutional basis, and further expand cooperation.
The event was addressed by Chairman of the State Committee on Affairs with Religious Associations of Azerbaijan, Ramin Mammadov, Secretary General of OTS, Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan Rustam Ali, Chairman of the National Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations under the President of Kyrgyzstan Talantbek Tashibekov, Chairman of the Directorate of Religious Affairs of Türkiye Safi Arpagush, and Chairman of the Committee for Religious Affairs of Uzbekistan Sodik Toshboyev.
At the end of the event, a communiqué was signed reflecting the agreed position of the parties and future directions of cooperation.
