Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have welcomed Türkiye’s initiative to establish TÜRKPOL, a police alliance of Turkic states.
Türkiye’s Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi made the statement to journalists following the third meeting of interior ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) member states in Astana, AZERTAC reported.
According to the Turkish minister, the establishment of TÜRKPOL could help strengthen cooperation among Turkic states in combating international crime.
The Astana meeting also addressed ways to facilitate travel between OTS member states. In particular, participants discussed establishing unified passport control points at airports for citizens of Turkic states and the possibility of introducing a system similar to the one in place in European Union countries.
Another issue on the agenda was the possibility of travel between Turkic states using identity cards.
Çiftçi said such a mechanism is already in place between Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, as well as between Türkiye and Azerbaijan. The Turkish side considers it appropriate to extend a similar system to other Turkic states.
The minister also said that an OTS leaders’ summit will be held in Ankara next month.
According to Çiftçi, the Astana meeting was one of the preparatory stages for the upcoming high-level discussions to be chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
