16.03.2023

On March 16, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Ankara city.

The President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Khalk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, the Secretary General of the OTS Kubanichbek Omuraliyev and other representatives of institutions and structures of the Organization participated in the event, chaired by the President of Uzbekistan.

According to the agenda, the prospects for developing multilateral cooperation in emergency management and humanitarian aid, as well as coordination of efforts in preventing and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters have been discussed.

At the beginning of the summit, the participants paid tribute to the victims of the devastating earthquake in the southwestern regions of Turkiye on February 6.

In his speech, the President of our state stressed that today's meeting and the solidarity with Turkiye demonstrated by the countries of the Organization in the days of tragedy was a vivid, practical confirmation of the strength of friendship and solidarity of Turkic peoples, who are strong pillars for each other in the most difficult moments.

"An unprecedented devastating earthquake that struck a friendly country has echoed in our hearts with endless pain. It is an incomparable, unspeakable loss. After all, our beloved fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and children perished and suffered as a result of this terrible catastrophe," Shavkat Mirziyoyev has said. We will never forget the tens of thousands of people who passed away as a result of this terrible disaster.

The Uzbek Leader proposed to declare February 6 as the Day of Remembrance and Solidarity within the Organization of Turkic States as a sign of special respect for the memory of all those who have untimely passed away.

Having given a high appraisal to the measures implemented under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the programs adopted to eliminate the consequences of a natural disaster, the President of our state emphasized that thanks to prompt, clear and effective actions, the lives and health of many people have been saved, large funds have been mobilized and large-scale restoration work has begun.

"In such difficult times, the fraternal Turkish people united around the leader of Turkiye and showed great courage, bravery, unwavering will and high spirit," the President of Uzbekistan emphasized.

In this regard, Uzbekistan declared its readiness to help and direct joint efforts at restoration of cities and villages destroyed by the earthquake and construction of new towns and villages, social and industrial facilities.

"In addition, we are going to create necessary conditions so that elderly people from the affected regions will be able to improve their health and have a rest in our country, we will also organize for them the trips to the sacred places of worship of our great ancestors Imam Bukhari, Imam Termezi, Imam Maturidi and Bahauddin Naqshband," Shavkat Mirziyoyev has suggested.

He also invited young people from the affected Turkish province of Hatay to visit our country this summer, where meaningful leisure and excursions to the ancient cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva will be organized for them, as well as joint activities with their peers.

Uzbek President drew attention to the fact that the territories where the countries of the Organization of Turkic States are located are the most prone to natural disasters by their geographical and geological peculiarities and risks.

"Unfortunately, due to global climate change, the scale of such devastating natural disasters and the damage from them has sharply increased in recent years", Shavkat Mirziyoyev has noted.

In order to prevent emergencies and eliminate their consequences, it was proposed to create a Platform for systemic cooperation within the Organization and on its basis create a number of specific mechanisms.

Thus, the early development of a multilateral agreement aimed at the prevention of natural disasters and emergency situations is of particular importance. In this regard, Uzbekistan supported the draft document presented by the Turkish side on the creation of a civil protection system.

The need to significantly intensify partnerships among ministries and departments was emphasized for emergencies. During their next meeting, it was proposed to prepare a joint program of action in priority areas.

Separately, the expediency of introducing mechanisms for close interaction and support in overcoming the social and economic consequences of natural disasters was noted. It was proposed to ensure the unhindered supply of food and building materials, the launch of cooperation projects aimed at restoring the industry.

Despite the achievements in scientific and technological fields, the problem of forecasting and early warning of earthquakes, mudflows and floods, forest fires, hurricanes is still relevant. Undoubtedly, a deep study of these processes, the widespread introduction of scientific and technological innovations in this area will have a great positive effect, the leader of Uzbekistan emphasized.

In this regard, he put forward an initiative to establish a Center for Monitoring and Analysis of Natural Disasters within the Organization of Turkic States and to place it in Tashkent.

In addition, a particular attention was paid to the need of strengthening the practical cooperation with international structures specializing in emergency situations.

At the end of his speech, the President of Uzbekistan sincerely wished successful holding of important political events at a high level, in particular, elections in a number of countries of the Organization, and also congratulated on the upcoming holiday of spring and renewal - Navruz and the blessed month of Ramadan.

Following the summit, the Ankara Declaration was adopted, an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Turkic Investment Fund, asa well as a decision was made to prepare an agreement on the formation of a civil protection mechanism.