On June 30, within the framework of the First Meeting of Heads of State Institutions for Religious Affairs of the member countries of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) held in Shusha, Ramin Mammadov, Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, met with OTS Secretary General Kubanychbek Omuraliev, President of the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs Ali Erbaş, Chairman of the Committee for Religious Affairs of Uzbekistan Sodik Toshboyev, Chairman of the State Agency for Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Talantbek Tashtemirov, and Deputy Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan Rustam Ali.
“Elchi” reports that the meetings focused on the development prospects of joint activities within the OTS, the protection of common moral values, the strengthening of coordination in the religious sphere, the fight against religious radicalism and extremism, as well as the importance of exchanging experience between relevant state institutions.
At the same time, a broad exchange of views took place regarding the improvement of state-religion relations in member countries and the formation of institutional communication mechanisms in line with the challenges of the modern era. During the talks, it was specifically emphasized that the effective cooperation model formed between the relevant state institutions of brotherly and partner countries, regular contacts, and joint projects make a significant contribution to further strengthening moral unity in the Turkic world. It was also noted that the First Meeting held in Shusha is of great importance for the development of continuous dialogue and the determination of future directions of activity. It was stated that this format serves to further strengthen mutual trust among member states.
Heads of delegations expressed their gratitude to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, for the high-level organization of the event and the conditions created. The guests emphasized that the meeting is an important platform for raising institutional relations within the OTS to a new level, that the initiatives put forward by Azerbaijan enrich multilateral cooperation with new content, and that the signed Communiqué will provide a strong impetus to this process.
