The Meeting of the Sub-Working Group on the Preparation of the Statute for the Network of Councils of Judges of the Organization of Turkic States, hosted by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors of Türkiye in close cooperation with the General Secretariat of OTS, was successfully held on 16-17 December 2024 in Ankara.
Along with Mr. Sadi Jafarov, the Deputy Secretary General of OTS and Mr. Hasan Huseynov, the Project Director of OTS; Mr. Rashad Hasanli, Deputy Head of the Judicial-Legal Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Mr. Orkhan Jafarli, Judge of Ganja City Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Ms. Salima Salimzhanova, Acting Head of the Department of Judicial Education and Examination Organization of the High Judicial Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Mr. Aibek Moldakunov and Mr. Nurlan Abdyrazakov, Members of the Council of Judges of the Kyrgyz Republic; Ms. Kalandarova Malikakhon and Ms. Ziganshina Guzal, Justices of the Supreme Judicial Council of Uzbekistan participated in the meeting in the name of their countries that are OTS Member States.
On the first day of the meeting, the morning session was presided by Dr. Müjgan Karyağdı, the Deputy Secretary General of the Council and Mr. Sadi Jafarov, the Deputy Secretary General of OTS. During this session, ideas on the draft of Statute were exchanged; important steps were taken towards the development of shared judicial values and cooperation mechanisms among OTS Member States and the Statute text was further developed with contributions from Member countries. In the evening of the same day, on the invitation of Konya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the guest and Council delegations attended the 'Şeb-i Arus' ceremonies in Konya and an official dinner was organised by Konya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in honour of guest delegation. Mr. Halil İnal, Konya Chief Public Prosecutor; Mr. Hasan Ay, President of the Justice Commission of First Instance Court for Jurisdiction and judges and deputy chief public prosecutors from Konya Courthouse were also present at the official dinner along with representatives of the Council.
The morning session of the second day was presided by Mr. Atila Öztürk, the Secretary General of the Council and the outcomes of the meeting were analysed in detail. Mr. Mehmet Akif Ekinci, the Acting President of the Council presided the afternoon session and he made a speech emphasising the importance of OTS, the common values of Turkic culture and the common historic roots of member countries and Mr. Ekinci presented gifts to the participants. In the evening of the same day, a dinner was organised in honour of guest delegation.
The draft Statute, developed with the contributions of member countries at the Sub-Working Group Meeting, is planned to be signed at the Third Meeting of Presidents of the Councils of Judges of the Member States of the Organization of Turkic States that is envisaged to be organised in Azerbaijan, in the cities of Baku and Shusha in June 2025. In this sense, it is anticipated that the establishment of the Network will contribute to the judicial communities and cooperation among member countries, strengthen regional solidarity, and lay the groundwork for future joint projects and that the Statute will serve as an important guide with the objective of further institutionalizing cooperation between member countries.
