"OUR STRENGTH LIES IN UNITY"

Istanbul hosted the 10th summit of Turkic states on 16 September. It was attended by the Presidents of Turkey - Abdullah Gul, Azerbaijan - Ilham Aliyev, Kazakhstan - Nursultan Nazarbayev, Turkmenistan - Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Kyrgyzstan's acting president Roza Otunbayeva and Iran's First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi. The only person missing was Uzbek President Islam Karimov, whose curt and sceptical attitude towards all integration projects, whether it be GUAM, CSTO, or, in this case, the community of Turkic-speaking countries, has long been known. The presence of the top Iranian official was a pleasant surprise, as the leadership of this country has previously reacted negatively to ideas and initiatives towards Turkic integration, contrasting them with ideas of Islamic solidarity and unity.

The first summit of heads of Turkic-speaking countries was held in 1992 upon the initiative of the then Turkish president, the late Turgut Ozal. Since then, the integration process has fluctuated in momentum but, in general, it has gradually moved forward. The Istanbul summit was a significant one, demonstrating that, by their multilateral rapprochement and integration, the Turkic-speaking countries are no longer restricting themselves to the educational and cultural spheres.

Speaking at the opening of the summit, Turkish President Abdullah Gul praised the integration processes and cooperation between the states. "Although the geography of our countries has great potential for cooperation, our region has problems that need to be addressed. To this end, cooperation is important for our region for the establishment of peace and stability." According to Gul, cooperation and integration between the Turkic-speaking countries is a reliable force for peace and stability in Eurasia. In turn, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also expressed his full support for the strengthening of integration between Turkic-speaking countries. "Our strength lies in unity," he said. He noted the need to strengthen mutual support on important issues discussed within the framework of international organizations.

The political outcome of the 10th summit was the signing of an agreement on the establishment of the Council of Cooperation of Turkic Countries (CCTC) - a new international organization headquartered in Istanbul. The decision to establish it was taken at last year's summit in Naxcivan, and it is now being implemented. By its draft statute the CCTC will consist of councils of presidents, foreign ministers, experts, elders and a secretariat. The CCTC secretary-general is the former Turkish ambassador to Russia, Halil Akinci.

The CCTC will be the basis for the creation of a new regional Turkic union intended to strengthen the unity of the peoples living with a similar language and cultural environment and to boost political, trade and economic ties. This is an important addition to the already existing Turkic integration organizations such as TURKSOY and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-Speaking Countries (TurkPA). The next two summits will be held in Kazakhstan in 2011 and in Kyrgyzstan in 2012. Furthermore, it was decided to establish a Turkic business council, while 3 October was proclaimed a Day of Cooperation between Turkic-speaking countries.

However, the emphasis on the political and economic component of the integration of the Turkic-speaking countries does not imply less attention or commitment to joint educational and cultural projects. TURKSOY has decided to declare Astana the cultural capital of the Turkic world for 2012, and a museum and a historical research foundation will be established at the Kazakh Academy. A special foundation (vakf) will be set up in Baku to preserve Turkic cultural heritage and promote collaborative research between universities. In addition, a major festival of Turkic culture will be held in Turkmenistan.

Integration in the sphere of culture, science and education and even greater approximation of the linguistic lexicon of Turkic countries and peoples are extremely important and have far-reaching geopolitical implications. History has preserved a prophetic phrase by Germany's "iron" chancellor Bismarck who, asked about the most important event of the 19th century to leave its imprint on subsequent history, pointed to the adoption of English as the state language of the USA. When the issue was discussed at a convention in Philadelphia, delegates considered both English and German. Who knows how world history would have developed and on whose side - Britain or Germany - the Americans would have been in the First and Second World Wars, if the USA had adopted German rather than English. In the modern information era, when global television and the Internet have become attributes of everyday life, creating a common and extensive Turkic language and cultural and educational area is becoming a necessity.

Integration processes between the Turkic states meet with mixed reactions from the great powers and neighbouring countries. For example, Washington gives the most favourable reaction. According to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu, the rapprochement between Turkic-speaking countries is supported by the US, a strategic ally of Ankara. Russia and China are somewhat wary. Greece and, in particular, Armenia, are not happy about this process at all.

The Armenians, who cultivate historical hatred for Turks, make territorial claims on Azerbaijan and Turkey and who have carried out ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis, feel extremely uncomfortable in the face of the increasing unity of Turkic peoples and nations. Indeed, the CSTO, on which the Armenians count, includes not only Russia, which patronizes Yerevan, but also countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, which do not support Armenian claims that run counter to international law. The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict was raised at the summit by President Ilham Aliyev who said that "Armenians and Azerbaijanis, who will return to Nagornyy Karabakh, must live within a single Azerbaijani state on the basis of principles that grant the highest degree of self-government. Peoples' desire for self-determination must not violate the territorial integrity of countries. That is, there should be no conflict between these two concepts. International experience and international law support this position."

The summit in Istanbul was used not only to discuss and make decisions about cooperation on a multilateral basis, but also to overcome some differences between individual Turkic-speaking countries. For example, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said at a press conference after the summit that Turkmenistan has no intention of damaging its fraternal relations with Baku. "Relations between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are developing at the highest level. Azerbaijan is our old neighbour," he said. Referring to the division of the Caspian seabed, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that he had held talks on the issue with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. He stressed that, despite the existence of some differences over the status of the Caspian, "we will not allow these differences to affect our bilateral relations."

In turn, President Ilham Aliyev said that relations between the two countries are truly at a high level of development: "Both Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are independent countries. And we address very important issues within the framework of cooperation. The question of dividing the Caspian Sea into national sectors is currently not the first, but the last issue on the two countries' agenda, because there are issues we have been unable to agree upon for many years. Most of the issues between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan have been resolved at the level of cooperation."

Along with the specific agreements reached at the Istanbul summit, the meeting itself was an impressive demonstration of the increasing solidarity and unity of the Turkic-speaking countries of the world and of their desire to continue to move forward along the path of progress, supporting each other. Cooperation and rapprochement between the Turkic states is not directed against anyone and is not aimed at isolation; rather it fits into the integration processes of the modern world.