Hungary gets observer status in International Turkic Academy

Hungary has been granted observer status in the International Turkic Academy, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after taking part in a foreign ministerial meeting of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States in Bishkek on Sunday.

The foreign ministerial meeting was organised with a view to preparing Monday’s meeting of the council’s heads of state and government.

Hungary’s observer status in the International Turkic Academy is an antechamber to observer status in the cooperation council, which will be decided on Monday, Szijjártó told MTI by phone.

The academy was founded in 2012 by Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, with the aim to coordinating scientific researches on the language, literature, culture, history of Turkic people.

Hungary’s observer status in the academy will mean that from now on, Hungarian academics will also be able to contribute to its research activities, Szijjártó said.

He said Hungary believes that Europe faces a variety of challenges and in order to meet them, it must cooperate with countries that can be of help to the continent’s economy, energy security or security.

Turkey will soon enter the ranks of the world’s ten largest economies, while Central Asia is undergoing dynamic development, the minister said. In addition, Europe can count on gas supplies from this region, which are set to be transported via Turkey. Szijjártó noted that Turkey has already started building the pipelines needed to transport gas to Europe.

He said

cooperation with Central Asia was also in Europe’s security interests, arguing that countries in this region can keep the ideas that form the basis of terrorism and threaten Europe at bay.

In terms of economic ties, the Central Asian countries can help develop effective cooperation between Europe and its eastern neighbours, he said.

Source: MTI