Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan departed for Budapest on Wednesday to participate in the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), a key diplomatic gathering aimed at deepening cooperation among Turkic-speaking nations.

The two-day summit, taking place May 20–21, gathers leaders from OTS member and observer states to strengthen cooperation among Turkic-speaking nations.

President Erdoğan will join the OTS Council of Heads of State to discuss strategic priorities and bolster the organization’s institutional framework. According to Türkiye’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, the leaders are expected to adopt key documents, including the Budapest Declaration, to advance the OTS’s objectives.

On the sidelines, Erdoğan will hold bilateral meetings with other leaders to address regional cooperation, economic partnerships, and geopolitical developments. Accompanying him are First Lady Emine Erdoğan, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, and Chief Adviser on Foreign Policy and Security Akif Çağatay Kılıç.

The OTS, established to promote unity among Turkic nations, includes Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan as full members, with Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as observer states. The summit underscores the growing importance of political, economic, cultural, and security coordination in the Turkic world amid evolving global dynamics. (ILKHA)