Gul cuts short his visit to Bishkek

President Abdullah Gul yesterday landed in the Manas Airport in Bishkek to attend the 2nd Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (CCTS). Gul, welcomed by his Kyrgyz Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Turkey's Ambassador to Bishkek Nejat Akcal, then proceeded to Bishkek's Ala Arca Congress Center, where he held tete-a-tetes with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizade. As part of the summit, Gul, Atambayev, Nazarbayev and Rasizade signed the Bishkek Summit Declaration. Furthermore, Education Minister Omer Dincer signed an agreement with his counterparts from other participating states to establish the Astana Turkic Academy and the Turkic Cultural Heritage Foundation in Baku, and foreign ministers of the member states signed the Finance Agreement of the Secretariat General of the Turkic Council. Gul had to return from Bishkek sooner than planned due to the recurrence of an ear problem caused by plane travel.