The Nakhchivan Agreement (2009)

From 1992 the heads of the Turkic-speaking states met at regular summits, but these meetings had no permanent organisation. In 2006 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed setting up a permanent council of the Turkic states.

On 3 October 2009, at the 9th summit held in Nakhchivan, the presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye signed the agreement establishing the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (the Turkic Council). It was decided that the secretariat would be based in Istanbul.

Uzbekistan joined as a full member in 2019. At the 2021 Istanbul summit the organisation took the name Organization of Turkic States. Hungary, Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are observers. The day the agreement was signed, 3 October, is marked as Turkic States Cooperation Day.