NEW INITIATIVES OF THE LEADERS OF THE TURKIC WORLD

The first summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States has ended at the recently built congress centre in Qabala. The summit was attended by the heads of four countries that founded this organization: Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan and Abdullah Gul of Turkey, as well as Sapardurdy Toylyyew, deputy prime minister of Turkmenistan. The Qabala summit marked not only a step forward in strengthening cooperation between its member states but also prompted relevant discussions among non-member states. 

The main purpose of creating the organization in Naxcivan in 2009 was to revive the historical Silk Road by strengthening humanitarian ties between the countries that share linguistic, religious and cultural bonds and to implement new infrastructure projects. Therefore, while the first two summits (held in Astana and Bishkek) were dedicated to discussions on relevant issues of economic and humanitarian cooperation, the Qabala summit focused on cooperation in the field of international transport and simplification of customs procedures. 

In his speech at the opening ceremony of the summit, President Aliyev said that the council member states are implementing large-scale transport projects that have tremendous importance for each of these countries and that these projects taken together create new transport roadmap of the region. The Azerbaijani leader specifically singled out the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway which is designed to connect Europe with Asia and turn the council member states into transit countries. "This railway will serve our peoples for centuries to come. This is a great geopolitical and geoeconomic project of cooperation. I am certain that next year we will mark the completion of this project and this way, we will revive the historical Silk Road," Aliyev said. 

For his part, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that his country is working on the issue of safe railway routes which will become an alternative to the existing connection links between the West and the East. At the same time, the selfsame Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project is the most important part of this project called the Modern Silk Road or the Common Corridor. The president said that Ankara is certain that this project will promote fast road communication between the council member states and will greatly facilitate the development of economic and trade relations between them. 

Turkey plays a very active role in the council, seeking to involve other Turkic speaking countries in it through various integration projects. In his speech the Turkish president specifically emphasized the memorandum of mutual understanding on the creation of maritime communication between the ports of Baku, Aktau and Samsun. "It is our aim to include the Turkmenbashi port in this," Gul said. 

"We want the 4th summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States, which is due to be held in Turkey next year, to engage all countries of the Turkic world. In this sense, we will expect the participation of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the next summit," Gul specified. 

The potential of all Turkic-speaking states explain the logic of the Turkish president's Six States-One Nation slogan. In terms of their economic and demographic potential, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with the overall territory of 4.8 million square kilometres come seventh in the world and in terms of the 140 population - ninth; in terms of their common production capacity of 1.5trillion US dollars - 13th. Nevertheless, the economic indicators of the Turkic world are less than its geographic or demographic potential. This prompts the necessity to fully use the Great Silk Road potential - a historical corridor which, Gul said, ensured that Turkic states remained strong and influential throughout centuries.  In the past, whenever the Turkic world was isolated from the global economy and trade routes, its political and cultural influence decreased. In this sense, the Silk Road is key to the economic revival and the enhancement of the political influence of the Turkic world. 

This means that the new president of the Cooperation Council - Azerbaijan- will make comprehensive efforts to involve resource-rich countries - Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - in the council. At the same time, dividends the council member states derive from the large-scale projects they participate in engender interest among other states. This is not surprising. Prospects of intercontinental integration projects make the expansion of geographic scopes of cooperation simply necessary. 

In this sense, when they outline their plans, political leaders of the Council member states, emphasize the necessity of the integration of not only Turkic-speaking countries but also of the whole Turkic world. This testifies to the "brothers in blood" and non-Turkic nations' interest to become involved in integration processes. Attention to the format of the cooperation between the Turkic-speaking nations is already noticeable. Let us take, for instance, China. It has long expressed interest in the format of the cooperation of Turkic-speaking countries, viewing it as one of the routes to Europe. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route is aimed at transporting cargo from Central Asia and China to Europe. And generally, without China the great Silk Road is unfathomable!

It is not only China that has expressed interest in these projects. "Turkic-speaking ethnic groups living in Russia (about 15million people!) have the same traditions and cultures. Therefore, I am certain that Russia should have participated in this event (the Qabala summit) with an observer status," according to Radik Murzagaleyev, the head of the Centre of Geopolitical Studies, Berlek-Yedinstvo. According to the Bashkir expert, this kind of attitude would greatly facilitate integration on the Eurasian space, something the member states are contemplating. 

However, the fact that Russia perceives the idea of the restoration of the Great Silk Road as a pro-Western project creates sufficient grounds to assume that that it will not join the Council in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, geographic proximity with the stable and economically developed community of states should certainly be in Moscow's interests. Stability and development is impossible without removing threats to regional security, the main one of which for the past 20 years has been the occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijan's territory by the neighbouring Armenia. It is unsurprising that participants in the Qabala summit paid particular attention to this problem as a main deterrent of integration processes. A relevant provision on the necessity to solve the conflict as part of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity was included in the final declaration issued after the meeting between the presidents. "It is our greatest dream that after the settlement of the Nagornyy-Karabakh conflict, the regular summit [of the council] in Azerbaijan will be organized in one of Karabakh's beautiful cities," Gul said. The statement naturally caused Yerevan's concern. The fact that the leaders of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, who, alongside Armenia, are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, signed the declaration, naturally worries Armenia who counts on support from this specific organization if Azerbaijan decides to wage a war to liberate its territories. 

Turkey has historically favoured integration with other Turkic-speaking states and peoples. Large-scale economic and energy interests towards Turkic-speaking states of the Caspian region further rekindle Ankara's interest. Azerbaijan is also increasing its regional power and international reputation. Successful implementation of these integration processes which are spearheaded by Azerbaijan increases Armenia's economic isolation. Armenia, which is now experiencing an economic and political downturn, is losing its traditional partners at a time when the independent and economically viable Azerbaijan is strengthening ties with its old partners and is gaining new ones. If Armenia ultimately realizes that its aggressive policy is doomed to failure, it will have a chance to enjoy the benefits of regional cooperation.