What's Behind Erdogan's Announcement of the Organization of Turkish States?

The total number of Turkish-speaking countries combined is more than 300 million, as a major force striking from central Asia to eastern and central Europe.

On November 12, 2021, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the transformation of the Turkish council, which includes Turkish-speaking countries, into the “Organization of Turkish states.”

The announcement concludes a long path for Ankara to this goal 29 years ago and begins a new phase toward a stronger and deeper republic in its regional control, and geopolitical expansion, to rein in historic rivals such as Russia and Iran, and to limit China’s aspirations for hegemony in the region.

This is in addition to activating the role of the Turkish nation in this country and making them more effective on the map of global alliances.

 

Universal Organization

The most prominent point, which marked a historic turn, was President Erdogan’s announcement to turn the council into an organization, saying, "we have decided that our family council, which has become an internationally respected organization, will continue to strengthen cooperation between the countries of this bloc politically, economically and culturally."

Referring to Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia, he said he had made the whole Turkish world proud, adding: "Hopefully the victory of Karabakh will open the doors of a new era of peace, stability and cooperation in the Caucasus region."

"The organization in its new name will grow, take root and develop faster and more stable," he said.

Erdogan spoke of his determination to make the Turkish world a position to provide good services to humanity in all areas, notably technology design and production.

Erdogan said the leaders participating in the summit approved the "vision of the Turkish world 2040" document, which outlines the organization's future perspective.

The Turkish president stressed that the region of Turkistan, the cradle of civilization, will once again be a center for attracting and enlightening all humanity.

The organization's announcement and the conference were attended by the Presidents of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Kazakhstan's Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan's Sadyr Japarov, Uzbekistan's Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Turkmenistan's Kurban Guli Berdy Mammadov, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (as an observer member), as well as Council Secretary-General Baghdad Amreyev.

The organization of Turkish states, short of which (CCTS) is abbreviated, adopts seven states: Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, as well as the Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus (not internationally recognized).

Turkey adopted its official language, as a common basis on which the civilization of those states was founded.

In addition to the founding republics, the Turk is deployed as a major nationality within federal republics within the Russian Federation (Tuva, Bashkortostan, Yakutia, Tatarstan, Altai) and the Eastern Turkistan region of China.

As minorities in Crimea (Tatars), Balkan states (Balkan Turks), Syria and Iraq (Turkmen).

The total number of Turkish-speaking states combined is over 300 million in population, creating a huge human force in central Asia, east and central Europe and the middle east in general.

 

Turkey's Aspirations

Until Ankara reached the moment of the declaration of the founding of the organization of Turkish states, it took years of work and planning, entrusted with the Nakhchivan Agreement on October 3, 2009, relative to the Azerbaijani city of Nakhchivan, and accordingly announced the establishment of the council officially in late 2010, at the Istanbul summit, and from that moment on the council summits began successively.

The first idea of establishing the Turkish council, which is now an organization, dates back to 1992.

At the time, Turkish president Turgut Ozal invited the heads of state of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan (which was self-governing) to Ankara and decided to develop their joint cooperation by holding regular summits between them.

Today, it has become an organization with broader aspirations, including the association of parliaments of Turkish-speaking countries, the Turkish labor council, the Turkish academy and culture international and the federation of chambers and common exchanges.

The main objective has been developed by the close alliance on foreign policy, economy, transportation, customs, tourism, education, media, sports and youth issues.

It aims to expand areas of international cooperation in the Muslim world, between the countries of the middle east and the Eurasian region.

Trade between OPEC countries is about $7 billion, and Ankara aims to double it.

At the military level, Turkey's support for Azerbaijan in its war with Armenia to liberate the territory of Karabakh cannot be overlooked, a victory that has strengthened Turkey's regional and international role.

This has motivated the rest of the Turkish council to achieve deeper communication and greater alliance with them.

 

Careful Steps

Turkey's latest move to support the so-called Turkish world has angered the regional powers around the country, local Turkish newspaper Yenisafak reported in its report on the summit on November 15, 2021.

"Recent developments in the organization of Turkish states, through which he drew up the roadmap for joint cooperation, have raised concern and fear among Iran and China," the paper said.

Iran in particular was trying to prevent the Turkish world from forming a homogeneous unity and had surprised everyone by supporting Armenia in the war against Turkish Azerbaijan.

Yenisafak attributed this to one of Iran’s biggest concerns that Turkey and other Turkish-speaking countries would create a common political and economic structure, similar to the European union.

This is the same as China, which sees such a possibility as an obstacle to its dominance in central Asia.

It is not only Iran and China who have fears of Turkish ascent, and the formation of broad and advanced Turkish reins such as the organization of Turkish states.

But Russia is also closely monitoring those developments, and Moscow aspires to enter the council as it considers Asia one of the crucial areas of its foreign policy.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov expressed his country's interest in the issue in a statement when he said: "We can join the Turkish council."

In Europe, Italy pays close attention to the new Turkish community, even before it is declared an organization.

in April 2021, Italy’s inside over said the Turkish council was an organization designed to bring together the Turkish people, unite their strength on the international scene and transform the great Turkish homeland, whose people are spread from central Europe to the Russian far east, into one of the most vital (and cultural) economic areas of the century.

The ultimate goal of member states sought to develop such a convergence into integration along the lines of the European union model.

In answering a question about Italy’s motives for at least considering joining the Turkish council as a monitoring state? The site said it needs new and prosperous spaces and increased opportunities to calm near-hostile relations with turkey.

 

Essential Key

Turkey's latest move to bring Turkish forces together under a single flag cannot be separated from the theories of one of Turkey's most prominent foreign policy architects for two decades.

He is former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, author of the 2001 book “Strategic Depth: Turkey's position and role in the international arena.”

He discussed ways to secure Turkey's national security, and how Ankara employs its historical and geographical legacy in its foreign policy.

With regard to the Caspian region, central Asia and the council of Turkish-speaking states, Davutoglu said in his book: "For Turkey, that region is the key to its link with central Asia.

"The cooperation that is being achieved with (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) in the face of Russian policies must be one of the essential fundamentals of Turkey's approach to the central Asian file."

As for Turkey's progress, its soft expansion in that region and the role of its neighbors, Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey is at an important crossroads in its history.

If it can integrate its historical and geographical depth, with real strategic planning, it will have a greater opportunity to influence this dual-polar dynamic, in order to become a force that can make a quantum leap.