For the first time, non-governmental organizations from member countries of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) are gathering under one roof at Azerbaijan's initiative, coinciding with the country's assumption of the organization's rotating chairmanship.

As reported by Azernews, the official opening of the Solidarity Forum of NGOs of OTS Member States will take place today at the“Gulustan” Palace in Baku.

More than 500 civil society representatives from Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Hungary, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are attending the event. This marks the largest forum ever organized through Azerbaijan's State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations.

All delegations have already arrived in Baku. On the eve of the forum, participants visited the Alley of Honor, the Alley of Martyrs, the Turkish Martyrs' Memorial, Victory Park, and the Heydar Aliyev Center.

Two panel discussions will be held on the opening day of the forum.
The first, titled“Zangezur Corridor: A Bridge Uniting the Turkic World,” will focus on preparations for the new regional landscape following the opening of the corridor and explore civil society initiatives aimed at strengthening Turkic-world connectivity.

The second panel will be the First Azerbaijan–Kazakhstan NGO Cooperation Forum. This follows a series of bilateral civil-society cooperation events: Azerbaijan–Türkiye (2022), Azerbaijan–Uzbekistan (2023), and Uzbekistan–Azerbaijan (2024). This year's meeting will facilitate experience and knowledge exchange between Azerbaijani and Kazakh NGOs and examine new avenues for deeper partnership. Similar forums with Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and Turkmenistan are planned for the coming period.

Today's discussions in Baku will conclude with a cultural program at the Gulustan Palace.

Tomorrow, the forum will continue in Nakhchivan - a city of deep symbolic significance for the OTS due to the 2009 Nakhchivan Agreement, which laid the foundation for the organization. It is expected that NGOs from OTS member states will formally establish their joint Platform in Nakhchivan. Azerbaijan, as the current OTS chair, will lead the Platform, which will unite NGOs from eight countries. This is anticipated to become one of the forum's most lasting legacies.

Earlier this year, Baku hosted the founding assembly of the Global South NGO Platform, bringing together civil society institutions from 115 countries - representing two-thirds of the world's population. Azerbaijan also hosted the first-ever gathering of NGOs from the D-8 (Developing-8) Muslim nations, whose populations constitute 60% of the global Muslim community. At the “Globally Engaged Azerbaijani NGOs: Strategies of Unity Against Isolation” panel held in Khankendi on October 20, 2025, it was emphasized that the greatest achievement of Azerbaijani civil society over the past two years has been its global outreach. The new OTS NGO Platform is considered a key milestone in this trajectory.

In Nakhchivan, the forum will also feature a panel titled “Towards WUF13 – A First for the Turkic World.” Discussions will highlight the scale and rapid pace of Azerbaijan's reconstruction and development efforts in Garabagh and Eastern Zangezur, presented as a model for post-conflict regions worldwide. Turkic-world NGOs will also be invited to participate actively in the 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13), to be hosted by Azerbaijan in 2026.

On November 26, 2025, participants of the OTS NGO Solidarity Forum will visit several sites across the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The event is expected to conclude with the adoption of a joint declaration.

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