SUMMIT OF TURKIC VISIONS

On November 12, Istanbul hosted the 8th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (CCTS) attended by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Hungarian Prime Minister. According to many observers, the summit was a new milestone in the development of cooperation between the Turkic states.

Green technologies and smart cities as drivers

The announced theme of the summit was the Green technologies and smart cities in the era of digitalization.

Remarkably, the theme completely complied with Azerbaijan’s strategy set for the restoration of Garabagh, with the introduction of smart cities and villages, as well as the development of green energy as priority concepts for the region. Identification of areas associated with the ongoing technological development of the Turkic states as the key topic of discussions underlines the significance of economic issues in the agenda focused on the integration of these states.

Almost all of these countries are trying to develop the green energy and mutual cooperation, including the attraction of investments. The implementation of joint projects dealing with the renewable energy sources (RES) can stimulate economic cooperation in general.

The decision taken at the summit to change the name of the Council to the Organisation of Turkic States is not only symbolic, but also practical. It indicates a change in the quality of interaction between the Turkic states, strengthens the cooperation mechanisms, and contributes to the development of improved political and legal foundation for the integration.

By the end of 2020, the total trade turnover of the Turkic states estimated at about $21 billion. The leaders of mutual trade are Azerbaijan and Turkey (more than $4 billion annually), followed by Kazakhstan and Turkey (over $3 billion), Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (about $3 billion). The Turkic states are eager to diversify trade and economic ties, increase investments in bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Today even the countries using primarily the conventional (fossil) energy sources increasingly try to increase the share of renewable energy sources in their economies to ensure internal energy balance. Thus, Uzbekistan, Azerbajian, and Kazakhstan intend to increase this share to 25%, 30%, and 10% by 2030, respectively. Of all the Turkic states only Turkey, which depends on the import of conventional energy sources, is set to double the volume of the RES energy in a couple of years. By 2030 this figure may rise to 60%.

Thus, the exchange of experience on the introduction of advanced technologies in power generation can become a stimulating factor in trade and economic relations between the Turkic states.

Medium-term vision of the Turkic world

The concept developed at the initiative of the first president of Kazakhstan, honorary chairman of the Turkic Council, Nursultan Nazarbayev, defines the key directions of economic, political, and humanitarian cooperation between the Turkic states up to 2040.

This strategic document called Vision of the Turkic World-2040 is a roadmap for deepening cooperation between the Turkic-speaking states for the next two decades in priority areas, including in the areas of security, transportation, customs, ICT, energy, tourism, healthcare, environment, agriculture, culture, education, science, youth and sports, work with diasporas. As a result, the concept is primarily focused on economic and social issues. In fact, it is the main vision of the short-term development of the Turkic Council, which can be defined as an organisation primarily focused on the solution of economic issues.

The development of communications, particularly the railway transportation systems, is a solid basis for the economic cooperation of the Turkic states. It is believed that the railway transportation has a number of advantages for the shipping companies, including shorter delivery times, regular communication, and targeted delivery. To intensify the railway traffic between the Turkic states, it is planned to reduce the tariffs for transportation, to ensure international coordination of transport polices of the respective countries. Also, it is planned to make relevant investments to solve the existing bottlenecks in the transport and logistics infrastructure, including in the construction of additional railway lines, electrification of railway sections, renewal and upgrade of tractive power, introduction of specialised rolling stock, construction of transport and logistics centres, improvement of the border crossing infrastructure, etc.

That is why the opening of the Zangezur Corridor will become the key condition for increasing the efficiency of the transport strategy of the Turkic states, hence the effectiveness of economic ties, which is among the priorities of the Vision of the Turkic World-2040.

Recognition of Azerbaijan's accomplishments

Yet another extremely important event of the summit both for the Turkic states and Azerbaijan was the awarding of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with the Highest Order of the Turkic World. This was not only a token of appreciation of Ilham Aliyev's efforts to initiate the most important integration projects within the Turkic world. It’s enough to recall the Nakhchivan Declaration, which laid the foundation for the current format of Turkic cooperation. It is also a recognition of Mr. Aliyev’s efforts to liberate the Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation.

For the first time in the history of the post-Soviet space, and, possibly, in the modern history after the end of the Cold War, a small country, contrary to the interests of powerful centres, was able to restore its territorial integrity without violating the balance of power in the region. Azerbaijan has masterfully avoided any possibility of becoming a tool of one superpower against another in their eternal struggle for the redistribution of spheres of influence. To some extent, it opposed the interests of these superpowers demonstrating that the will and unconditional support from the population can ensure the solution of even the most complex and seemingly impossible goals.

Committed to the traditions of his great Turkic ancestors, and internationally recognised commanders, Ilham Aliyev led the Azerbaijani people to a victory that would increase the reputation of the entire Turkic world. Thanks to Azerbaijan’s victory in the war, Zangezur, which for many years has prevented the reunification of the Turkic states into a single political and economic space, will become a lasting link of the Turkic unity. Ilham Aliyev became the person who cut through the Zangezur (Turkic) corridor. The recognition of this historic achievement by the leaders of the Turkic world confirmed the prudence of Mr. Aliyev’s political course based on the vision of the national leader of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev.

Turkic Council becomes an organisation

The key decision of the summit was the transformation from the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states into the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS). This is not just about changing the name of the body. This step proves that at the current stage the organisation is set to form a large-scale transport hub within its geography through a unified procedure for the passage of goods, general investment rules, and the possibility of creating a common market for goods and services. The organisation’s mission now is to create a single humanitarian space with a single alphabet and a single language.

President of Turkey, the host country of the summit, noted that the renaming and restructuring of the organisation will ensure its more intensive development. According to Mr. Erdogan, the Turkic states for thousands of years "has remained a crosspoint of culture and civilisation and the sun will rise again from the East."

The new structure of the OTS provides for the development of specific cooperation mechanisms to increase the efficiency of the set goals. It is assumed that the specific content of the programmed measures will largely depend on the increasing volume of trade between the Turkic states. For now and for objective reasons, the driver of economic cooperation is Turkey, which holds the highest volumes of trade with the other member states of the organisation. In the near future, the situation will not change. At the same time, the dynamic development of the Central Asian countries and the restoration of Garabagh can intensify investment cooperation. This will expand the spheres of cooperation between the fraternal countries, making them truly limitless.