Öksüzoğlu attends 19th Meeting of Council of Elders of OTS

The 19^th Meeting of the Council of Elders of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS), held on 22 June 2026 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, under the chairmanship of Binali Yıldırım, Chairman of the Council of Elders. The meeting was attended by Ikram Adırbek from Kazakhstan, Hasan Hasanov from Azerbaijan, Apas Cumagulov from Kyrgyzstan, Sadıkcan Turdiyev from Uzbekistan and Oktay Öksüzoğlu from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

In his address, Öksüzoğlu expressed his gratitude to the President of Kazakhstan, Cömert Tokayev, for hosting the meeting, as well as to all officials who contributed to the organisation.

Highlighting the significance of the 34-letter common alphabet, adopted by the Turkic World Common Alphabet Commission, Öksüzoğlu stated that it would be one of the most important milestones in shaping the common future of the 170 million people of the Turkic world. He added that the Turkish Cypriots stands ready to contribute to this process and to host activities aimed at promoting the common alphabet in the field of education.

Expressing that Northern Cyprus has the potential to become a center for education and scientific research within the Turkic world, Öksüzoğlu noted that approximately 50,000 students from across the Turkic world are currently studying in the TRNC.

“With our prestigious universities, highly qualified academic staff and multicultural environment, we remain determined to continue contributing to the advancement of the Turkic world in the fields of education, science and human resource development” he said.