Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Numan Kurtulmuş, in his speech at the “Turkey-Turkic World Century: Turkey-Azerbaijan Joint Conference on New Role Models in Political and Economic Relations” held at the Sheraton Hotel, stated that the conference was being held on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the founder of modern Azerbaijan, the great statesman Heydar Aliyev with his great ideas and ideals, and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

Expressing that Azerbaijan will continue on its path as an even stronger country, Kurtulmuş said: “Heydar Aliyev left a legacy not only to Azerbaijan but to the Republic of Turkey and our nation, and in a way that transcends Turkey and Azerbaijan, to the entire Turkic world. ‘One nation, two states.’ We are deeply pleased to see this legacy being embraced in recent years.”

Pointing out that the desire for rapprochement between the two countries has occurred simultaneously, Kurtulmuş emphasized that this is extraordinarily important, valuable, and a great opportunity in itself, and that seeing serious steps being taken in this direction was gratifying.

Kurtulmuş stated that after Azerbaijan’s historic victory and the restoration of its territorial integrity, the will demonstrated for ensuring political stability in the region was also extraordinarily important, saying: “With the joint efforts of Turkey and Azerbaijan in the world’s most important geostrategic transit zone, we hope that a balance and stability will emerge, making a very significant contribution to world peace.”

“We have reached a point where we will have a say from the farthest east of Asia to Europe”

Pointing to the importance of the establishment of the Organization of Turkic States, Kurtulmuş said:

“We see that there is a serious will for our countries to move toward common goals. We are deeply pleased by this. We have reached a point where we can have a say, influence, and decision-making power in this corridor extending from the farthest east of Asia to Europe. Instead of moving within the areas drawn and permitted for us by others, instead of being confined to the orbit of the East and West, we are building our own unique axis to develop new collaborations, strengthen peace, and increase welfare in this whole region, from East to West, including the Middle East and Africa.”

Kurtulmuş emphasized that the “Century of Turkey” vision, put forward as an extremely important vision for Turkey, must be a common goal of the nation, not just political rhetoric or the shared view of one or some parties: “The Century of Turkey means a century of a Turkey whose word is powerful and whose power is effective.”

“We cannot limit our horizon to the immediate surroundings we see”

Stating that Turkey will always set new goals for itself, Kurtulmuş said: “The strong realization of the Century of Turkey is our goal, our dream, our ideal.”

Kurtulmuş, expressing that the Century of Turkey perspective means not seeing Turkey as merely consisting of 85 million citizens but being able to demonstrate a power beyond that, continued:

“What is that power? It is the power we call our national existence. Our national existence encompasses hundreds of millions of friends of Turkey around the world, starting from our immediate surroundings, including our friends and kinsmen. First the Turkic world, then the Islamic world; our national existence includes more than two billion people who are our friends. This is an extraordinary source of strength. Leveraging this strength well, using it for the benefit of our nation, and establishing relations with everyone in the world on a principle of mutual benefit – this is our main objective.”

Kurtulmuş also stated: “As the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, we will work with all our might to continue to strengthen Turkey-Azerbaijan relations and Turkey’s relations with the brotherly countries of the Turkic world in every way.”