TurkPA forum to open in Astana on Wednesday

ASTANA, April 27 (Itar-Tass) - Social events within the framework of a
meeting of the member-countries of the Parliamentary Assembly of
Turkic-speaking states (TurkPA) begin in the Kazakhstani capital on
Wednesday.
The forum is to be attended by Ural Mukhamedzhanov, Speaker of the
Majilis (lower house of the Kazakhstani parliament), who is heading the
TurkPA Council, as well as by chairmen of the supreme legislatures of
Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Astana also plays host to such guests as representatives of the
International Organization for the Joint Development of Turkic Culture and
Arts, the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC), the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states, and
the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.
A session of the TurkPA Council, with provision for a procedure for
the transfer of presidency in the Assembly from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan,
is expected to be a major event on the first day of the forum.
Amzebek Zholshibekov, chairman of the Majilis committee on
international affairs, defence, and security, maintains, "Presidency in
TurkPA, along with that in the Organization for Security and Cooperayion
in Europe (OSCE) last year and that in the OIC in the current year
convincingly confirm the growth of the international prestige and the
strengthening of the image of Kazakhstan in the world community".
A plenary session of TurkPA is to take place at the Palace for Peace
and Concord. It will begin with the opening of a photo exhibition on the
theme of "The Independence of Turkic-Speaking States: Formaiton and
Prospects" .The name of the exhibition is symbolic: the theme of the 20th
anniversary of the gaining of sovereignty by Turkic-spesking countries
that were part of the Soviet Union, according to the forum organisers'
plans, will run throughout the events of the forum.
Those present at the plenary session are to consider a wide range of
matters, including the introduction of amendments to the basic documents,
discuss the Organization's budget, and approve a programme for 2011-2012
activities.
Participants in the session are to set up four standing commissions:
on social affairs, cultural and humanitarian affairs, on economic, trade
and financial matters, as well as on law and international contacts.
The idea of establishig TurkPA belongs to Kazakhstani President
Nursultan Nazarbayev. He propoesed it in November 2006 in the Turkish city
of Antalya at the 7th meeting of the Heads of State of Turkic-speaking
countries. The basic documents of the Assembly were signed in Baku at the
first plenary meeting of the Organization in 2009.
The principal goal of the Organization is to give mutual support
toTurkic-speaking countries at international organizations, as well as
share experience in legislative processes. The Assembly was also founded
with a view to preserving the language, culture and history of
Turkic-speaking countries, and to invigorating political, economic, and
cultural contacts.
TurkPA has already estalished interaction with such organizations as
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, NATO Parliamentary
Assembly, and gained observer status at the Interparliamentary Union, the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and OIC.