The heads of state of countries included in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) will be holding an informal summit in Budapest, Hungary, on 20⁠–21 May. The event will be hosted by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary and will have ‘East Meets West’ as its official theme.

The countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan will be sending their representatives to attend. This will be the first OTS summit that is hosted by an Observer State, as opposed to a Member State of the Organization.

We’ve reached out to Ibrahim Mammadov, a researcher at the Danube Institute who specializes in the Central Asian region and the broader Turkic world, for a comment on the development.

‘As Turkic economies become indispensable natural economic allies for the growth of European economies, the hosting of the first-ever OTS summit in Budapest highlights Hungary’s role as a gateway between the two blocs. Hungary is the only country in the world that is both a member of the EU and an observer state of the OTS, with a local representation in Budapest,’ the expert told our website.

Türkiye has also played a key role in the recently started peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, having hosted Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul last week. In this aspect, the Turkish government is allied with Budapest in the effort to end the war in Ukraine. In addition, Türkiye also provides a safe transit pipeline for natural gas important to Hungary from Russia, which is not under the sphere of influence of the belligerent Ukrainian side, making their close relationship with the country all the more strategically important.

The Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States has also released a public statement ahead of the event. In it, they write:

‘The Summit is expected to conclude with the adoption of the Budapest Declaration, reaffirming the collective vision and strategic direction of the Organization of Turkic States. A number of important decisions and initiatives are also planned to be announced. Ahead of the Informal Summit, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OTS will convene in Budapest to finalize the Summit agenda and documents to be submitted for the consideration of the Heads of State.’

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