Kalın: Turkic world due for heightened spot on world stage

As it expands its horizons, the Turkic world will continue to play a significant role in global politics, according to Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın.

“Especially in recent days, we have been going through a very strategic, historic and critical period in which the Turkic world has started to recover. The Turkic world is reuniting, opening into a new horizon.

“The political vision of our organization, which was redefined as the Organization of Turkic States, is one of the most concrete results of this,” Kalın told a workshop in the capital Ankara on Wednesday.

Kalın said in recent years, particularly as a result of developments in Türkiye as well as in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and the other Turkic republics, the unity and solidarity of the Turkic world have ceased to be just an opportunity and are now a strategic necessity.

“Especially recently, the 44-day Karabakh victory (of Azerbaijan in fall 2020) has been a very important source of pride and hope for the Turkic world,” he noted, referring to Azerbaijan’s triumph over Armenian forces in a conflict over the Caucasus territory of Karabakh.

“It demonstrated what we can achieve if we come together, act together and combine our strategic opportunities and capabilities,” he added.

Developments of late show that the Turkic world and Central Asia will continue to play a vital role, especially in the energy and food crisis that emerged with the Ukraine war, Kalın said, explaining that “a very important part of the world’s energy reserves are located in our Turkic region. The world has two major energy reserves, one is the Middle East and the second is the Turkic world.”

Regarding the trilateral summit Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are set to hold in Turkmenistan on Dec. 14, Kalın said it constitutes one of the most critical stages in the region’s increasing cooperation.

Kalın also lauded the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) decision to give observer status to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) at a summit last month in Uzbekistan.

“It is also significant for us that the Turkic world takes care of the Cyprus issue … From now on, it is the most important mission of the Turkic world and Turkic states to protect not only the Turkish Cypriots, but also Turkic and related communities, wherever they are in the world, and to show that they are not alone,” he said.

The Organization of Turkic States is an interstate bloc, established with the aim of expanding cooperation between Turkic-speaking countries in the fields of politics, economics, science, education, transport and tourism. Its members are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan, with Hungary, Turkmenistan and Turkish Cyprus holding observer status.

Earlier in November, the organization welcomed the TRNC as its third observer member, days before the country celebrated its 39th founding anniversary, in a move that drew protests from the United States and the European Union, which expressed “concerns” about the admission.

Türkiye, however, hailed the development and Erdoğan underscored Ankara’s commitment to supporting the TRNC in its struggle for international recognition as the secretary-general of the OTS, Kubanıçbek Ömuraliyev, praised it as “an important step in bringing the Turkic states even closer.”