Turkic Council youth and sports ministers meet in Bishkek: Turkic states football club and chess association initiatives

The 10th meeting of youth and sports ministers of the Turkic Council member states took place in Bishkek on October 21. Official delegations from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Türkiye took part, along with the leadership of the Turkic Council Secretariat. They discussed youth policy, cooperation among member states and joint sports projects.

Urmat Asanbaev, head of Kyrgyzstan's State Agency for Physical Culture and Sport, said his country supports the initiative, proposed by Türkiye, to create a football club of the Turkic states, calling football a force that brings peoples closer together. Kyrgyzstan also backs a Turkic Chess Association that would unite the chess federations of Turkic countries.

Asanbaev noted that high-level Turkic chess competitions are planned for November 19–28 in Turkistan, Kazakhstan. He also highlighted the World Nomad Games held in Kyrgyzstan from August 31 to September 6, in which about 3,000 athletes from more than 100 countries competed in 43 sports. A protocol is expected to be adopted after the meeting.