The First Summit of Turkic-Speaking States (Ankara, 1992)

In 1991 Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan declared independence. Türkiye was among the first states to recognise them and proposed bringing the leaders of the Turkic states together.

On 30-31 October 1992 the first summit of the heads of six Turkic states was held in Ankara. It was attended by President Turgut Özal of Türkiye, President Abulfaz Elchibey of Azerbaijan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, President Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan, President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan. The summit adopted the Ankara Declaration, agreeing on cooperation in culture, education, the economy and transport.

Summits followed in Istanbul in 1994, Bishkek in 1995, Tashkent in 1996, Astana in 1998 and Baku in 2000. In 2009 the Nakhchivan Agreement turned these meetings into a permanent organisation.