BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 31. As previously reported, Uzbekistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Mirvohid Azimov was appointed the new Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) at the organization's 13th Summit, held in Ankara yesterday. He will replace his Kyrgyz predecessor, Kubanychbek Omuraliev.
Trend presents a profile of Mirvohid Azimov:
Mirvohid Mirilyasovich Azimov was born in 1980 in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The diplomat, who turns 46 in 2026, studied at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Uzbekistan, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in international law.
Azimov holds a Candidate of Legal Sciences degree, specializing in international law.
His diplomatic career spans more than 20 years. At various stages, he worked in different departments of Uzbekistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including heading its Treaty and Legal Department.
One notable aspect of his career is his four-year tenure at the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Beijing. This means that before taking up a leadership position at the OTS, Azimov had also gained experience working within another major regional international organization.
In September 2020, Azimov was appointed Deputy Secretary General of the OTS, a position he held for approximately six years. During this period, he worked on the organization's institutional development and the expansion of multilateral cooperation among member states, including efforts to strengthen political, economic, transport, cultural and humanitarian ties.
On May 26, 2026, he was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan by a corresponding presidential decree. He left his position as OTS Deputy Secretary General, which he had held until then, to continue his career in Uzbekistan's diplomatic service.
Azimov's work within the organization covered various areas of cooperation.
On March 30, 2026, he took part in a meeting of the OTS Working Group on Space Agencies in Tashkent, where he emphasized the importance of developing cooperation among Turkic states in space technology. The meeting addressed plans to manufacture and launch the 12U OTS-SAT CubeSat into orbit.
On April 15 of the same year, Azimov attended an Uzbekistan-Türkiye tourism cooperation event in Istanbul, where he discussed expanding tourism ties among Turkic states, implementing joint projects and developing cultural and humanitarian relations.
On October 30, 2026, the Council of Heads of State of the OTS appointed Mirvohid Azimov as the organization's new Secretary General at its 13th Summit in Ankara.
He succeeds Kyrgyz representative Kubanychbek Omuraliev, who had held the position since November 2022.
Azimov's appointment marks the first time that a representative of Uzbekistan has taken the post of OTS Secretary General.
The OTS Secretariat has said that, building on the new Secretary General's previous experience, it aims to continue cooperation with member and observer states and translate the objectives outlined in the "Turkic World Vision - 2040" document into concrete initiatives.
