The key facts

  • Mirvohid Azimov was appointed OTS Secretary General by a decision of the Council of Heads of State at the summit in Ankara on October 30
  • For the first time, the post of OTS Secretary General has been held by a representative of Uzbekistan
  • Azimov succeeded Kubanychbek Omuraliev, who had held the post since 2022

Appointment at the Ankara summit

Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Mirvohid Azimov has been appointed Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States. The decision of the Council of Heads of State was adopted on October 30 during the 13th OTS summit in Ankara, reports the Dunyo news agency. The organization's Secretariat noted that the appointment takes effect after the summit's decision is ratified.

A Uzbek national heads the organization for the first time

As noted by Gazeta.uz and UzNews.uz, a representative of Uzbekistan has taken the post for the first time of Secretary General of the OTS. Azimov succeeded Kubanychbek Omuraliev, who was elected to the post in 2022 from Kyrgyzstan. The upcoming appointment was previously mentioned by the Chairman of the OTS Council of Elders, former Prime Minister of Turkey Binali Yıldırım: according to him, the OTS Council of Foreign Ministers met in Ankara on October 29, on the 103rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, and he thanked Omuraliev for his contribution and wished Azimov good luck.

Who is Mirvohid Azimov

Azimov is 46 years old; he was born in Tashkent in 1980. Since May 2026 he has served as Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, and before that — from autumn 2020 — he worked for almost six years as Deputy Secretary General of the OTS, meaning he is well acquainted with the structure and mechanisms of the organization he will now lead. He is a graduate of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (bachelor's and master's degrees in international law), holds a candidate of legal sciences degree, and has more than 20 years of experience in the foreign ministry system, including four years at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation secretariat in Beijing; he also headed the Foreign Ministry's Treaty and Legal Department.