Baku, Azerbaijan, July 27
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey speaks for developing the relations between Turkic-speaking countries, Turkey's Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said in an interview with Trend.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, significant progress was achieved in developing the relations between Turkic-speaking states, he said.
However, on the other hand, currently, there are some structural problems between these countries due to geographic location and political principles, according to Gonul.
"Water resources management, the problems related to borders, ethnic problems make the ethnic rapprochement between Turkic-speaking countries difficult," he said. "But all this doesn't hinder the continuation of cooperation within historical and ethnic values.'
Gonul added that Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan created the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States in 2010 as part of cooperation and developing the relations with Turkic-speaking countries and this is of special importance for developing the relations between the mentioned countries.
The minister said that the goal of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States headquartered in Istanbul, is to consolidate and strengthen the economic relations between these states.
Moreover, one of the goals of the Council is to strengthen the cultural relations between the Turkic-speaking countries, he added.
Turkey's defense minister said that the Council's fifth summit to be held in Kazakhstan in September 2015 will focus on the issues related to communications and media technologies.
In accordance with the status of neutrality, Turkmenistan is not a member of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States, but participates in some of its events, according to Vecdi Gonul.
"However, currently, Uzbekistan avoids ties with the Cooperation Council of the Turkic-speaking States," he added.
Furthermore, the defense minister said that Turkey has always supported the Turkic-speaking countries after they gained independence and spoke for developing the bilateral relations.
Edited by SI
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