The first meeting of the TURKPA Commission on Environment and Natural Resources hosted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey took place on 2 April 2015 in Ankara and led by Mr. Ahliman Amiraslanov, Chairman of the Commission and member of the Azerbaijani Parliament.

The main item of the meeting’s agenda was dedicated to the combating against desertification in the Turkic speaking countries. The parliamentarians of the member countries touched upon the desertification issues existing in Turkic speaking countries, as well as national policy related to the subject and forwarded a number of proposals.

At the same time, the parliamentarians discussed a working plan on the Commission’s future activities. During relevant deliberations, members of the Commission emphasized the necessity of identifying cooperation priorities in the field of environment within the TURKPA framework.

The participants drew the attention to the necessity of joint action and demonstration of common approach to the issues dealing with solution of environmental problems and improving living standards of people. At the same time, significance of implementation and development of specific projects in this field was noted by the delegations.

Delegations from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Turkey, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization of Turkey, Ministry of Forest and Water affairs of Turkey, Turkic Council, Turkish World Association of Engineers and Architects, Union of Turkic World Municipalities and other institutions participated in the meeting.

Report and recommendation on the matter was approved by the Commission to be adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session that will be held in the second half of 2015 in Kazakhstan.