Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Thursday the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council) had made great contribution to the welfare of Turkic nations and the stability of the region, Today's Zaman reported.

"In creating the Turkic Council, we aimed to boost cooperation with the strength that we get from each other. Our intention was to increase regional cooperation and create new synergies by supporting the regional cooperation mechanism. I am happy to see that we have succeeded in the majority of these targets," Gul said at the fourth summit of the Turkic Council in Turkey's resort city of Bodrum.

The president stressed the importance of the Council as a symbol of unity and solidarity among Turkic nations, vowing to further enhance all-round cooperation and tackle joint risks among the Council members.

The Turkic Council was founded with the signing of the Nakhchivan Agreement in 2009. Each year a summit was held by a member state under a different topic or theme. This year's summit, from June 4 to 5 in Turkey, mainly aimed to boost tourism cooperation among the Turkic nations.

There are currently six independent Turkic-speaking countries in the world -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey.

Bakudaily.az