Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 12 May 2022, the Association of National Human Rights Institutions and Ombudsmen of Turkic States was established in the city of Bursa (Turkey).

Uzbekistan at this historic event was represented by the First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Director of the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan Akmal Saidov. 

As noted in his welcoming speech, this year marks 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Uzbekistan and Turkey and 5 years since the establishment of strategic and partnership relations between the two countries. Last year Ankara and Istanbul hosted the Days of Culture of Uzbekistan. This year, the Days of Turkish Culture are planned to be held in the cities of Tashkent and Samarkand.

Also in 2022, Uzbekistan will host the first summit of the Organization of Turkic States.

“The new Association will be a unique organization uniting national human rights institutions and Ombudsmen of our countries. This structure will contribute to the effective solution of issues of ensuring the rights of citizens in the member states of the Organization of Turkic States,” said A. Saidov.

The established Association covers a wide range of cooperation in the field of human rights, including:

- raising awareness of the activities of the Ombudsman and the national human rights institutions of the Turkic-speaking countries;

- exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of human rights through the organization of joint trainings, seminars, projects;

- conducting joint trainings and seminars, scientific research in the field of human rights;

- expansion of opportunities for cooperation in international and regional mechanisms in the field of protection and promotion of human rights.

The development of close cooperation between the national human rights institutions of the Turkic-speaking countries is an urgent issue today. It should be noted that this topic was widely discussed in 2018 within the framework of the Asian Human Rights Forum, which was first held in ancient Samarkand.

In 2019, in Istanbul, at the 2nd International Conference on Human Rights and the online meetings of the Ombudsmen of Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that took place two years after it, the possibility of creating an Association of National Human Rights Institutions and Ombudsmen of Turkic Speaking Countries was also discussed.

The National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan believes that this Association, created in the current conditions of strengthening cooperation between Turkic-speaking countries, will become a convenient platform for cooperation between national human rights institutions.