President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and leaders of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS, TDT in Turkish) on Thursday opened the Beştepe Millet Ormanı (Beştepe Nation’s Forest) and the Türk Devletleri Medeniyet Parkı (Turkic States Civilization Park) in Ankara, ANKA News Agency and Akşam reported.
The opening came as Ankara hosts the 13th OTS summit. According to the Crimean News Agency (QHA), the OTS foreign ministers’ council met on Thursday, and heads of state and government are due to hold their leaders’ summit on Friday, 30 October, when Türkiye takes over the organisation’s rotating chairmanship from Azerbaijan.
645,000 square metres
ANKA said the site was created by the General Directorate of Forestry (OGM), part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and covers 645,000 square metres. It includes thematic gardens, walking and cycling paths, children’s play areas and cultural stops, and will serve Ankara residents, the agency said.
Akşam reported that the programme included a tree-planting ceremony in the park and a cultural programme at the Malazgirt show centre, and that the park contains an OTS encampment (oba) with tents representing eight countries.
Summit theme
The leaders watched performances and posed for a group photo after the opening, ANKA said. Neither ANKA nor Akşam named the individual guest leaders or quoted remarks from the ceremony.
According to QHA and Akşam, the summit’s theme is "Turkic Century: Unity in Language, Thought and Action", drawing on a motto of the Crimean Tatar intellectual İsmail Bey Gaspıralı. QHA said leaders are expected to sign an Ankara Declaration and that a new secretary-general is expected to be appointed.
Sources
- Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan, Türk Devletleri Medeniyet Parkı ve Beştepe Millet Ormanı’nın açılışına katıldı (ANKA via Son Dakika)
- Başkan Erdoğan da katıldı! Türk Devletleri Medeniyet Parkı açıldı (Akşam)
- Gaspıralı’nın düsturuyla tarihî buluşma: TDT 13. Zirvesi Ankara’da başlıyor (QHA)
Photo: Estonian Foreign Ministry / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
