On July 29, in the cultural capital of Azerbaijan – the city of Shusha, a historic event took place – the National trade union centers of four Turkic states – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan signed an Agreement on the creation of a new unique integration structure – the Organization of Trade Unions of Turkic Countries.
The agreement was signed by Chairman of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Azerbaijan Sattar Mehbaliyev, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin, President of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions “Türk-İş” Ergun Atalay, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Makhmadaliyev.
Kyrgyzstan will take part in the Organization in the status of an observer.
The main goal of the new structure is to consolidate actions to protect the social, labor, professional, economic rights and interests of employees.
The signatory parties to the Agreement reaffirmed their intention to increase the potential for cooperation and open up new opportunities in protecting the rights of workers to decent work, decent life and social justice.
Welcoming the participants of the solemn ceremony, Sattar Mehbaliyev, Chairman of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Azerbaijan, noted that there are close fraternal relations between the Turkic countries, the foundation of which was laid in the early 90s.
“Azerbaijan, along with our Turkic brothers, is actively involved in the creation of a Turkic state. Despite all the obstacles, we tried our best to maintain and develop these relations. Cooperation with fraternal countries occupies a special position in the framework of international relations,” Sattar Mehbaliyev emphasized.
According to him, the creation of the Turkic world and, in particular, the trade union organization of cooperation, laid a solid foundation for the rallying of the Turkic states.
The unity of goals and interests of the Turkic peoples in his speech was emphasized by the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin.
“We, representatives of the fraternal Turkic peoples, are united by common historical roots, common culture and traditions, common goals and common interests. I want to emphasize that the Turkic countries have not only common interests, but also a common centuries-old history. Over the past thirty years, cooperation between the Turkic-speaking states has been successfully developing, which have advanced this mechanism from an intergovernmental organization (Turkic Council) to a regional international organization (OTG),” said Satybaldy Dauletalin.
The Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan thanked his colleagues for supporting his initiative to unite efforts to protect the rights and interests of workers within a single organization.
“We can say with confidence that the national trade union centers of our countries have become a reliable defender of workers and a responsible partner of state authorities and employers’ associations. Today it is extremely important to strengthen our unity, build a common vision of multilateral cooperation between the trade unions of our countries. In this regard, the creation of the Organization of Trade Unions of Turkic States is of particular importance,” the head of the FPRK believes.
Among the main areas of future cooperation, he listed the promotion of advanced trade union practices, the exchange of experience and changes in the situation on the labor market of the Turkic states as a whole.
“Our aspirations for rapprochement and establishing a dialogue between the national trade union centers of the Turkic countries are open and constructive and are not directed against the interests of third parties. We have common goals and one way – to be together! The creation of our organization is a long-awaited event. But this is only the beginning of the journey, and our today’s meeting will become a milestone for the development of Turkic integration,” Satybaldy Dauletalin believes.
President of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions “Türk-İş” Ergun Atalay, in turn, thanked the trade union leaders of the fraternal countries for an important joint step in strengthening cooperation and called on colleagues to fruitful joint work, while noting the importance of observing and promoting fundamental international standards.
“If we can unite our efforts, our labors and efforts will be effective. I am sure that the signing of this agreement and its subsequent implementation will lead to a new round of development of trade union relations, protection of workers’ rights, interaction of trade union organizations of the Turkic states,” added Ergun Atalay.
The importance of creating trade union organizations at the level of the Turkic states for the well-being and prosperity of workers was also noted by the Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Makhmadaliyev.
“The creation of an organization of trade unions of the Turkic states will allow not only to more effectively protect the interests of workers, but also to represent the common interests of the trade unions of our countries at the international level,” Bakhtiyor Makhmadaliyev emphasized.
The heads of national trade union centers note that the creation of a new structure has become a landmark event in the life of the trade union movement in each of the countries. The symbolism of its holding in Shusha closely echoes the trend of strengthening trade union solidarity.
It should be noted that on July 28, the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions Satybaldy Dauletalin arrived on a working visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan. The working trip of the Chairman of the FPRK began with the commemoration of the heroes of Azerbaijan in Baku.
The heads of the national trade union centers of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan laid flowers at the eternal fire on the Alley of Martyrs and visited the Alley of Honor in Baku, where they paid tribute to the memory of the first President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev.
Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan