Azerbaijan will preside over the Almaty process in the next two years

An online meeting of high-ranking officials was held within the framework of the Almaty process, which has regional consultative status on refugee protection and international migration in the Central Asian region.

First, the memory of those who died as a result of the earthquake in the brotherly country was commemorated with a minute's silence. The condolences of the Chief of the State Migration Service, II rank state migration service counsellor Vusal Huseynov, regarding the natural disaster in Turkey were brought to the attention of the participants of the meeting.

Antonio Vitorino, Director General of the International Migration Organization, made a video address at the event. A. Vitorino highly appreciated the activity of Azerbaijan as a "champion country" and congratulated our country on the chairmanship of the Process in 2023-2024.

Savash Unlu, head of the Migration Management Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, informed about the work done by Turkey within the framework of the Almaty process as part of its presidency in 2021-2022.

The head of international cooperation the department of the State Migration Service Ulvi Aliyev, in turn, drew attention to the main priorities of the activities that will be carried out within the framework of the Almaty process during the presidency of Azerbaijan. It was also noted that the Almaty process is an important platform with the potential for further strengthening of cooperation between the participating states.

The role of regional partnership in migration management and policy development was also discussed at the meeting, as well as issues related to the new observer status of Italy and the Organization of Turkic States.

Then it was officially announced that the chairmanship of the Almaty process will be transferred to the Republic of Azerbaijan for a period of two years from 2023. At the end of the event, the heads of the delegations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed the Final Protocol. The protocol on behalf of the State Migration Service was signed by the head of the Main Office of Migration Policy and Legal Support Vahid Kahramanov.

It should be noted that the chairmanship of the Almaty process, which has been in effect since 2013, rotates between the participating states every two years. So far, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkey have chaired the Almaty process.