Eurasia Review sheds light on growing power of Organisation of Turkic States Article by Taras Kuzio

Eurasia Review has published an article by Taras Kuzio, a professor of political science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, highlighting the growing power of the Organisation of Turkic States. Caliber.Az reprints the piece.

In October 2009 the Cooperation Council of the Turkic Speaking States was founded in the Nakichevan province of Azerbaijan, three years after then Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed the concept. At its eighth summit in 2021, it was renamed the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS). Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Türkiye are members of the OTS while Turkmenistan and Hungary are observers.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev views the OTS as not only uniting independent Turkic states. This is because ‘Its geographical boundaries are wider.’

While initially Azerbaijan and Türkiye were the driving force behind deeper integration of the OTS, recently Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also stand out as active of OTS members. Kazakhstan views itself as the ‘cradle’ of Turkic nations and has outlined a Turkic World Vision to the year 2040. Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev believes the OTS follows the ‘will of our ancestors’ and increases ‘unity of the brotherly nations.’ A unity ‘based on mutual trust and brotherhood,’ Tokayev added.

The OTS differs from most other international organisations in being an equal union of countries, unlike organisations that are traditionally dominated by global powers. Although Türkiye dwarfs the other countries in terms of the size of its population, other members do not feel as though Ankara is hegemonic. The OTS’ secretariat has always been in the Turkish city of Istanbul but there are OTS structures in other member states, for example in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

A more equal structure contrasts with organisations that are used by Russia to impose its hegemony on Eurasia. The CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) replaced the USSR in December 1991 but has always been seen by Moscow as a structure with overtones of Soviet nostalgia. Only two of OTS members – Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – are also members of the Russian-led CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation) and the Eurasian Economic Union.

The OTS is united, according to its former Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev, by common ethnic identity, history, language, culture, spiritual values, and traditions. Two issues which dominate the OTS – security and energy – are closely interrelated. OTS members pursue balanced foreign policies that diversify their relations and export routes while maintaining good relations with their two big neighbours – Russia and China.

The OTS countries are staunch supporters of the territorial integrity of States and the inviolability of internationally recognised borders. Over the past four years, Azerbaijan has completed the liberation of the occupied territories in three stages.

In September 2022, the OTS Working Group on Energy Cooperation was established. Its first step was the launching of an OTS Energy Cooperation Programme and Action Plan for it to be implemented by 2027. OTS members would seek to diversify their export routes beyond Russia through the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Project (TANAP), Trans Adriatic Pipeline Project (TAP), and Southern Gas Corridor. In addition to gas and oil, OTS members would increase their cooperation in renewable and alternative energy, nuclear energy, and new energy technology.

OTS members are proponents of a multipolar world and are sceptical towards the old unipolar system which reinforces US and Western hegemony. Russia, Iran, and China also seek a multipolar world although this is unlikely to be defined in the same way. It remains unclear what a ‘just multipolar world’ means or whether it would be better than the unipolar world that is in place. 

OTS members are drawing up common positions on combating international terrorism, separatism, and extremism. Türkiye has some experience in this area in its fight against ISIS and Kurdish terrorist groups PKK and YPG. The OTS will be expanding its cooperation in the fields of domestic security, defence, training, and their military industrial complexes.

OTS members have different approaches to security. Türkiye is a member of NATO and hosts US military bases. None of the other OTS members seek to join NATO. Azerbaijan is a long-term military partner of Israel and Türkiye, uses Western military equipment and its officers are trained in NATO academies. While in the past Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan continue to rely on, as seen in its weak performance in Ukraine, poor quality Russian military equipment and inadequate military training, nowadays they increasingly look at Türkiye.

Following the liberation of occupied territory, Azerbaijan has led the way in the OTS in calling for greater cooperation on security and defence. Azerbaijan’s military victory ‘marked the beginning of a new stage in the strengthening of the Turkic unity.’

In December 2023, President Aliyev said: “Today we are faced with a completely new, unpredictable situation in the world. And still, at least here in Azerbaijan, as in many other countries, people do not know how this geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the West will end. Therefore, also taking into account the situation in our region, security issues should be a priority.” President Aliyev noted that “we need very close cooperation in the areas of defense, defense industry, joint production, joint training of military personnel, joint efforts to protect our borders.”

The OTS summit held in November 2023 initiated ‘closer cooperation in the field of defence industry and military collaboration.’ Bilateral military cooperation, as seen in that between Azerbaijan and Türkiye, is to be expanded to a multilateral format.

The OTS has emerged as a new geopolitical actor which is successfully uniting countries with a common Turkic identity which seek a multipolar world that is cooperating with, and not in confrontation with the West. Successful Turkish-Azerbaijani military cooperation is the template for the expansion of OTS cooperation in the fields of defence and security.