Uzbek President awards Turkish counterpart with highest order

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev awarded his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the "Highest Order of Turkic World" following the summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Samarkand.

According to Anadolu, the Turkish head of state expressed his gratitude and pride in the decision to award him.

"The High Order of Turkic World imposes a great responsibility on me in the strengthening ties with Turkic-speaking states, uniting our peoples, increasing the authority of the OTS in the world," Erdogan said.

According to him, the OTS has established itself as a recognized international structure.

"The Turkic world has more power today than yesterday. Our countries are united in their desire for close integration and cooperation in various areas: from sports to culture, from politics to trade. The platform of the Organization of Turkic States is the fruit of joint efforts of our states," he noted.

He expressed confidence that by joint efforts of the Turkic states it will be possible to eliminate any challenges and obstacles.

To recap, Mirziyoyev awarded Erdogan a high state award - the Order of Imam Bukhari on November 10.

According to Uzbek media, Mirziyoyev also awarded Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan (Halk Maslahaty Milli Gengesh) Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

In addition, the OTS established the Alisher Navoi International Prize, which was awarded to Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov.

It is noted that the first prize was awarded to the writer and public figure Chingiz Aitmatov, who made a great contribution to the rapprochement of the Turkic peoples.