8th Turkic summit starts in Istanbul

The 8th summit of Turkic nations started at Chiragan Palace of Istanbul Thursday. The summit is being attended by presidents of Turkey Ahmet Necdet Sezer, of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev, of Turkmenistan Saparmurad Niyazov, and chairman of Uzbekistan's Supreme Mejlis Erkin Khalilov.

Also in attendance are foreign ministers of Turkic countries. The summit was opened by Turkish president Sezer, AssA-Irada's Istanbul correspondent Dursun Ozden reported Thursday.

In his remarks, President Aliyev voiced confidence that the meeting would contribute to comprehensive cooperation among Turkic nations and strengthening of peace, stability and confidence in the region.

"The core objective of our meetings is to materialize the desire of our nations to live in peace and security", he said.

The President stressed the significance of 2001 for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, which are going to mark tenth anniversary of their independence. The head of state emphasized that after gaining independence Azerbaijan has invigorated strategic partnership with Turkey.

"We intend to continue cooperating with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, our 70-year-long allies ", Aliyev said and wished the summit every success.*