Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev called on the member countries of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) to increase cooperation in the fields of security and defense.

"Unfortunately, today in different regions of the world the norms of international law are being grossly violated, wars and bloody conflicts are breaking out. In that case, the defense potential of the countries becomes the main guarantor of security. I think that the cooperation between the member states in such areas as security, defense, and defense industry should be further developed," Aliyev said at today’s meeting of the leaders of OTS member states in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The OTS, established in 2009, includes, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Hungary, Northern Cyprus and Turkmenistan are observer states to the organization.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Secretary General of the OTS Ambassador Kubanchbek Omuraliev attended the summit.

Photo: President of Azerbaijan press service