What is the Importance of the Organization of Turkic States for Turkey and the Turkic World?

When we look at the Turkic World in the last 30 years, we witness that the new Turkic States that emerged in the Turkestan geography after the Cold War have found an environment of cooperation or division of labor among themselves. As a result of the Soviet intervention as an 'obstacle' and its oppressive policies that did not allow 'nationalism' discourses except for Slavs, it was not possible to establish a relationship between the Turks in Central Asia, Azerbaijanis and even the Turks of Turkey in the last century. 

The collapse of the Soviet Union changed everything in a positive way and served as an important catalyst for increased communication and contacts between Turks. As seen with the fall of the Berlin Wall and German unification, the collapse of the Soviet Union triggered the expected historical process of unification in the Turkic world. 

This process was initiated for the first time in 1992, when the leaders of the Turkic states came together in Ankara under the leadership of then President Turgut ÖZAL. This meeting was an important breakthrough for all Turkic states, which were still at the beginning of their efforts for self-determination, and it meant a sense of confidence in themselves. From 1992 to 2009, eight Summits of the Turkic World were organized with the participation of Heads of State. These summits paved the way for the gradual institutionalization of a comprehensive cooperation among Turkic societies and guided important steps.

For example, in 1993, the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), headquartered in Ankara, was established to bring Turkic societies closer to each other through culture and arts. In 2008, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA) was established in Baku, creating a forum to strengthen cooperation at the parliamentary level. In 2009, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, led by Kazakhstan, signed the Nakhchivan Agreement, which established the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council). Thus, the Turkic World gained a mechanism that produces its own regional policies. 

The Turkic Council expanded geographically when Hungary was granted observer status in 2018 and Uzbekistan joined as a full member in 2019. Turkmenistan officially became a member of the Turkic organization shortly after, in 2021. 

Important decisions were taken in the Turkic world at the Summit of Heads of State held in Baku in 2019. At this summit, member states expressed their willingness to speak with one voice in the future. They decided to move their relations from cooperation to gradual integration. 

After Baku, the historic Summit of Heads of State was held in Istanbul in 2021, which I see as a breaking point for Turkic integration. At the summit, the name of the Turkic Council was changed to the Organization of Turkic States (OST) and it was transformed into an international organization. This was a great act of transformation for all Turks. With Turkmenistan joining the organization at this summit, there were almost no obstacles left in the way of building a united and expanded Turkic World. Also at this Summit, the Turkic World Vision 2040 document was adopted, which supports the integration efforts of the Turkic states and sets out the long-term goals of cooperation. 

The Turkic States under the umbrella of the CSTO have begun to fulfill an important function in building a very strong partnership, gaining political benefits from this strong partnership, taking advantage of economic opportunities in the Turkic world, increasing and expanding the sphere of influence of the geopolitics of the Turkestan geography, and ultimately ensuring regional stability and security. 

The Samarkand Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, which took place on November 11, was held at a time when Moscow's interest and influence in the Turkestan region was partially weakening amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian War. 

On the one hand, everyone agrees that the spheres of influence of Russia and China are quite large in the Turkic World, where geopolitical balances are changing. Moreover, the Western world is also trying to establish a structure that serves its own interests and to weaken the influence of China and Russia in this region with its rich natural resources. In this respect, the great powers have great ambitions and conflicts of interest in the region. 

In the meantime, Turkey, taking into account its historical ties with the people and geography of the region, has seized the chance to become an important actor in Turkestan with the organization of the Organization of Turkic States. Turkey undoubtedly has rich historical and cultural ties with the former Soviet Turkic republics in Central Asia and the Caucasus, which have rich underground resources, as well as common language and religious ties. This set of values, which makes the societies of the Turkic world kin communities, was also the main theme of President Erdoğan's three visits to Turkestan in less than two months. This initiative launched by Ankara to strengthen its position in the region contributes to building a strong structure led by Turkey and raises our hopes.

In the 1990s, Turkey's relations with the Turkic States, led by Özal and Demirel, and the idea of creating a Turkic community were blocked by Russia, which had established a distinct influence over the countries in the region. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Turkic states were forced to sign economic, political and military treaties with Moscow and were unable to develop any other opening other than maintaining their deep-rooted relations with Moscow. This reality rendered Ankara's efforts to establish its own sphere of influence in Central Asia and to unite the Turks at least around basic values fruitless.

While the dream of creating a Turkic community could not be realized due to Russia's presence and influence, the Armenia-Azerbaijan War in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine War in 2022 were seen as factors that changed the Turkic states' view of the world and their bilateral relations with Russia. Not only did it become clear that the Russian obstacle was a danger to them, but it also gave these countries the courage to resist the Russians. It made it possible for the Turkic states, especially if they acted together, to take steps to keep Moscow at a distance from them and remove it from the region as much as possible with the common policy and attitude they would develop. 

In a way, Turkey and the Turkic states have indirectly benefited from Russia's failures and mistakes. Now, it seems possible for Turkey to fill the vacuum left by Russia and to penetrate the region with an approach that embraces the entire Turkic world without confronting Russia. However, the economic, cultural and social dependency between Russia and the regional states still persists. Without eliminating this dependency, Russia's influence in Central Asia is not expected to be broken. In the near term, this situation does not constitute an obstacle for Turkey in terms of the institutional relationship established and developed in the context of the Organization of Turkic States.

Nevertheless, any development or activity in Turkestan in which Turkey will be involved will be perceived as undesirable by Moscow. Nevertheless, it is important to keep the existing communication skills on the Ankara-Moscow line, to convince the Russian side that Turkey's steps towards the region will not be a threat to Russia, and to express Turkey's intentions and intentions in an open and transparent manner. Thus, a constructive bilateral dialogue with Moscow for the success of Turkey's Turkestan policy will not only ensure that the countries in the region do not stay away from Turkey, but also that it can be easily realized without scaring the Russians by obtaining 'consent' from Moscow.

Turkey does not hide the fact that it is trying to increase cooperation with Turkic states in the fields of economy and defense. For example, TAI, the Turkish Aerospace Company, has signed an agreement with Kazakhs to co-produce the ANKA unmanned aerial vehicle in Kazakhstan. The Orkhon Exchange Program was launched as part of the Organization of Turkic States structure. Significant progress was made towards establishing this program as a full-fledged exchange program. The aim is to transform this model into an ERASMUS-like structure. Turkey is endeavoring to increase economic investments and trade volume with the countries of the region, to consolidate political unity and to increase the social welfare of the people of the region. Such 'soft power' initiatives facilitate Turkey's communication with the region and expand its sphere of influence. 

However, Turkey is aware that it should give more importance to sporting activities, educational programs and commercial structures rather than political and military issues. In the meantime, Turkey needs to make a more concerted effort to improve trade with Turkic states. Turkey needs to establish an alliance that will increase Turkey-Central Asia trade volume, which is around $10 billion in total, to the level of China and Russia ($25-30 billion). In fact, Turkey's participation in the projects to be developed for the region, especially together with China, should be considered. China, the pioneer of the One Belt One Road project, is focused on increasing its bilateral contacts with each of the Turkic states. China's influence in the region is about to surpass that of Russia. China has become the world's largest economy and its economic importance for the Central Asian countries is obvious. China is now both a large market and a country with growing demand for Central Asia's natural resources and hydrocarbon products. 

Total exports of goods between CIS countries reached $25.9 billion in 2021, up from $13.9 billion in 2016. The Organization seeks trade facilitation, further liberalization of trade and the development of digital trade between member states. It is also envisaged to further increase the total volume of trade in the coming years and to achieve economic integration among the countries of the organization.

Turkey does not expect the Organization of Turkic States to make major political decisions, for example, to recognize the independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and it is particularly wary of rhetoric that would dictate this to the members of the organization. Turkey also needs to guide the CSTO not to take erroneous decisions, as the conjunctural conditions do not yet allow for this.

Nevertheless, granting "observer country" status to the TRNC, which was established as an independent state on November 15, 1983 by force of circumstances, and allowing it to participate in the Samarkand Summit as an observer country should be read as a great and important development. TRNC will now feel the concrete support of not only Turkey but also the entire Turkic World. TRNC will be able to participate in the meetings together with Hungary, which has been in the organizational structure as an observer country since 2018, and will have the power to be seen as a part of the wider Turkic family.

The Turkic Council had emerged as an institutionalized structure of non-aggressive, joint and strong will of states with a common historical and cultural background, unity and future goals, which are basically trying to protect their independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Founded in 2021, the "Turkic World Vision 2040" is seen as a search for a strong integration that will serve global peace. It paves the way for putting into action the discourses on the unity of the Turkic World. 

In this context, the Organization has put forward a strong will to work with various working groups and boards around this vision in order to focus on building a common future within the framework of a strong will based on a deep-rooted history. It is expected to move forward within the framework of this vision from now on.