The Sixth Plenary Session of Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking countries took place on 3-4 December 2015 in Astana, capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan hosted by Mr.Kabibulla Jakupov, Chairman of Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Ogtay Asadov, Chairman of Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Asilbek Jeenbekov, Chairman of Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Ahmet Aydin, Vice Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and Ms. Marta Matrai Vice Chair of the Hungarian National Assembly in capacity of the observer in TURKPA.

Representatives of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (CCTS), TURKSOY, IPA CIS, Turkic Academy, Union of Turkic World Engineers and Architects, Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) took part in the Session.

In his speech Mr. Kabibulla Jakupov touched upon the activities plan of the Kazakhstani Chairmanship. He emphasized that cooperation between the Turkic-speaking countries within almost quarter a century since gaining independence has achieved unprecedented level. Mr. Jakupov reaffirmed the readiness of TURKPA to provide a comprehensive legislative backing to the projects and initiatives adopted by the heads of state within the framework of the Turkic Council.

Alongside, the Chairman-in-Office urged the member countries to cooperate on challenging issues, such as fight against terrorism and radical extremism, elimination of consequences of the global economic crisis and acute environmental problems.

The Plenary Session was preceded by the meeting of the Council of Assembly held on 3 December with participation of the chairs of the parliaments of four member countries. During the Council’s meeting, a Chairmanship was handed over from Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan to the Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. Mr.

Kabibulla Jakupov thanked Azerbaijani Parliament for the work conducted during their Chairmanship in TURKPA.

The Council’s meeting was marked also by the presentation of TURKPA medal of merit. Chairman of Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan Ogtay Asadov, Chairman of Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Kabibulla Jakupov, Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh of Kyrgyzstan Asylbek Jeenbekov and Chairman of the Grand National Assembly Ismet Kahraman were awarded the medals for their contribution to strengthening cooperation among the peoples of the Turkic-speaking countries.

The agenda of the Sixth Plenary Session included the annual activity report of TURKPA, election of chairs and vice-chairs to the permanent commissions, adoption of reports and recommendations of the said commissions, as well as reports of the TURKPA international observers’ mission on presidential and parliamentary elections in the member countries.

Within the plenary session’s programme national delegations visited the Turkic Academy and took part in the conference “Parliamentarism in the Great Steppe”. The conference’s programme included also the opening ceremony of the scientific copy of the “Mangi Tas” historical monument. Besides, parliamentarians visited the library of the Kazakhstan’s First President, the national museum of Kazakhstan and national exhibition “Unity of Turkic peoples”, as well as attended “Abay” performance at the Astana Opera and Ballet Theater and met with the management of the EXPO-2017 exhibition.

The Session was ended with adoption of Astana Declaration.

The next Seventh Plenary Session of the Assembly will be held in Kyrgyzstan.