QUARANTINE AND THE TURKIC COUNCIL

On April 10, at the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan, who is also the chairman of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council), the council held an emergency summit through a video conference. For the first time in many years, the Council gathered for an emergency meeting of the heads of state of member states. At the same time, the President of Turkmenistan and the Prime Minister of Hungary, leaders of non-member states of the Council but actively participate in its activities, were among the participants. The reason for this emergency event was a pandemic of a novel coronavirus, rapidly spreading throughout the world.

According to experts of the World Health Organization (WHO), existing health systems in various countries were not ready for an effective pandemic response. Moreover, many states were not able to interact with each other properly either. We were not ready to show even elementary gestures of mutual assistance, which significantly exacerbated the already tense situation.

The summit showed that the above did not apply to the Turkic Council. At the same time, the development of a common platform for interaction in this difficult situation turned out to be rather difficult - in each country the situation develops according to its own scenario, and the actions of the authorities to reduce the risks of the spread of the virus, as well as to reduce the extent of its negative impact on the economy, are quite different.

How to fight a pandemic in the Turkic world

Azerbaijan was among the countries where the government took the necessary quarantine measures at an early stage of the pandemic. WHO experts who visited Azerbaijan in March gave a positive assessment to the timely, clearly calibrated and coordinated actions of the authorities in the fight against the pandemic. “In a letter addressed to me on March 23 by the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, the work done in Azerbaijan was highly appreciated. Azerbaijan was regarded as a model country as far as the measures against the pandemic are concerned. Azerbaijan plays an active role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic both locally and in the world. Demonstrating global solidarity, Azerbaijan provided the World Health Organization with voluntary financial assistance to fight against coronavirus,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

President Aliyev informed his colleagues in detail about the work done, noting the importance of exchanging experience in countering the danger. In particular, he instructed to allocate ₼2.5 billionto eliminate the negative effects of the pandemic on the economy and maintain the population under strict quarantine. Another ₼112 million was transferred to the Virus Combating Fund. By the way, the first contribution to the fund was made by I. Aliyev himself, when he transferred ₼20 million from the President’s Reserve Fund.

In the meantime, partner states also took necessary emergency measures to effectively contain the spread of the disease. It was no coincidence that the head of WHO, Gebreyusus, who was present at the video conference, emphasizing the importance of the summit, expressed hope that all countries would follow the example of the Turkic Council states and “adhere to the principle of solidarity and fight the invisible but dangerous enemy together.”

“I want to thank the government and people of Azerbaijan for their contribution. Indeed, Azerbaijan donated $5 million. Thanks a lot to Turkey too. You help European neighbors by sending basic materials. I would like to thank everyone,” the head of WHO said.

Nevertheless, the situation in Turkey remains quite difficult. The economy and public life of the country suffered serious damage. So, on March 18, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the introduction of a package of economic measures to combat coronavirus in the country, the total amount of which amounted to $15.5 billion.

The Kazakh government provided $10 billion over the past week to fight the spread of coronavirus. Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev has also introduced a state of emergency.

In neighboring Uzbekistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev decreed to allocate $1.51 billion to the anti-crisis fund to counter the pandemic.

About $13 million has been allocated in Kyrgyzstan to fight the pandemic. This is not a significant amount compared to the volumes allocated by other countries. However, given the size of the Kyrgyz budget, these funds can be considered as feasible and probably the maximum possible compensation for the losses that the Kyrgyz economy suffers and continues to bear.

In fact, Kyrgyzstan is the only Turkic country that currently urgently needs external assistance. As early as March 26, it became known that the International Monetary Fund approved $120.9 million as financial support to Kyrgyzstan to combat COVID-19. Thus, the Kyrgyz Republic became the first country to receive assistance from the organization to combat the pandemic. The money will be used to meet the urgent needs of the balance of payments arising from the outbreak of coronavirus.

Turkmenistan has also taken special measures to counter the pandemic. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stated that since the news of the outbreak of coronavirus in China in Turkmenistan, all necessary measures have been taken to prevent the entry of infection into the country.

Currently, all states of the Turkic world have suspended air communication with countries with an unfavorable situation in connection with the pandemic.

Joint actions as a guarantee of development

It is obvious that joint actions in the fight against coronavirus is necessary at the global level to create a vaccine, restore the global economy and implement other actions. Although many of these issues go beyond the framework of the Turkic states, the holding of the summit indicates that the Turkic Council shows its viability in very difficult conditions.

Today it is very important for everyone to provide states with medical supplies, masks, protective equipment, alcohol and other products. For example, Turkey has now launched the production of medical products, including the urgently needed mechanical ventilation devices. In Azerbaijan, production of masks has also been established, and with an increase in production volumes, it will be possible to talk about the export of these goods, as well as sending them as humanitarian aid. Mutual support and assistance in these conditions are necessary.

During the summit, issues of the development of the situation after the pandemic were also discussed, and this primarily implies the measures to be taken to act under conditions of economic recession.

In the past, many countries created various unnecessary organizations, setting ambitious goals, but could not come to a common opinion on a number of important issues. It may seem that the nature of the problems discussed is not so large-scale. However, what is the point of setting large-scale tasks, and then not finding opportunities for their implementation? The Turkic Council, breaking the usual schemes and approaches, is taking small steps towards a big goal. The practice shows that in this case the means justify the ends.