A meeting of the TURKPA Assembly Council was held in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, on 12 June. In her address at the meeting, TURKPA Incumbent Chairwoman and Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova declared her confidence that the forthcoming exchange of opinions and decisions to be passed at the event would contribute to achieving the goals of the Organisation.

In her speech, she presented to the event participants an overview of the work done in the Organisation under the presidency of the Milli Majlis. As Sahiba Gafarova emphasised, every step had been taken during the expired period to strengthen inter-parliamentary connections and make the activities of TURKPA stronger still.

Noting that TURKPA stands apart from other international platforms as an entity that unites under its aegis representatives of the fraternal peoples sharing a common heritage and national spiritual values, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis remarked that the effective work of TURKPA provides parliamentary support for the expansion of unity and solidarity among our nations at a time when co-operation among our brotherly countries grows by the day. The Organisation also generates opportunities for the unified stance of the Turkic World to be heard on international parliamentary platforms.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova further said that the presidency of the Milli Majlis in the Organisation had been conducted in accordance with the Activity Plan adopted at the 13^th Council Meeting. Meetings of the permanent commissions had been held regularly during the past period, all in keeping with the Activity Plan, and efforts had continued towards the harmonisation of the legislation of Member States. Significant efforts were devoted to the development of model laws, which constitute a crucial aspect of the process of forming a unified legal framework. Moreover, the elections and referendums monitoring work was carried out successfully, contributing to the strengthening of the co-operation between the state institutions of Member States and the Assembly, whilst also promoting the further development of democratic election traditions within the Assembly’s Member States.

The report also highly commended the work of the TURKPA Women Parliamentarians’ Group and the Young Parliamentarians’ Group in enhancing the role of women and youth in our countries, as well as in strengthening further the co-operation amongst women and young representatives of our Member Parliaments; the activities conducted in this realm were similarly highly praised as well. The multifaceted co-operation and dialogue among individual parliamentary committees within the framework of TURKPA were likewise recognised as a significant contribution to our collective endeavours.

In her address, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis emphasised the importance of interaction amongst the Staffs of our Parliaments for a continued expansion of practical collaboration and exchange of experience. The relevant significance of the first meeting of the TURKPA Secretaries General of Parliament, held in Baku in June last year, was duly underscored, too.

In addition to the foregoing, it was said that the work done to develop and strengthen TURKPA’s international relations, as well as to further enhance ties with other organisations was continued with success during the term of the Milli Majlis’ presidency of the Organisation. It was emphasised in this context that TURKPA as an organisation for co-operation among member parliaments holds particular significance also in terms of safeguarding and promoting our shared interests on international platforms by virtue of parliamentary diplomacy.

Organisational matters were discussed, appropriate decisions were made and the Organisation’s presidency was relegated to Kazakhstan further on.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis