SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, June 30. The First Meeting
of Heads of State Bodies on Religious Affairs of the Member States
of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) has begun in Shusha
city, Trend's
Karabakh bureau reports from the event.


The event is attended by the Secretary General of the OTS, as
well as heads of state bodies responsible for religious affairs of
Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.


The purpose of the meeting is to protect the common
national-spiritual and cultural values ​​of the Turkic peoples, as
well as expand cooperation between the relevant bodies of the
member states. The meeting will discuss opportunities for
cooperation in the areas of regulating state-religion relations,
religious education, legislation, management, and personnel
training.


In addition, the issues of protecting, restoring, and promoting
at the international level monuments reflecting the common
religious and cultural heritage of the Turkic peoples, promoting
interfaith understanding, inter-confessional dialogue, and Islamic
solidarity, as well as strengthening the exchange of experience and
information in the field of combating religious radicalism and
extremism, will also be discussed.







One of the main topics of discussion at the meeting is the
establishment of a permanent cooperation mechanism between state
bodies on religious issues within the framework of OTS. This
initiative will serve to strengthen coordination between member
states, develop mutual activity on an institutional basis, and
further expand cooperation.


The event is expected to be addressed by Chairman of the State
Committee on Affairs with Religious Associations of
Azerbaijan, Ramin Mammadov, Secretary General of OTS, Ambassador
Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information
of Kazakhstan Rustam Ali, Chairman of the National Agency for
Religious Affairs and Interethnic Relations under the President of
Kyrgyzstan Talantbek Tashibekov, Chairman of the Directorate of
Religious Affairs of Türkiye Safi Arpagush, and Chairman of the
Committee for Religious Affairs of Uzbekistan Sodik Toshboyev.


At the end of the event, a communiqué is expected to be signed
reflecting the agreed position of the parties and future directions
of cooperation.