Astana is preparing a geopolitical turn from Moscow under the guise of “Turkic integration”
On Thursday, March 16, an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was held in Ankara, where Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev went to express his allied solidarity and confirm his intention for further integration under the auspices of Turkey.
Leaders of the former Central Asian states and Azerbaijan came to the Turkish capital to speak on emergency security just after the devastating earthquake in Anatolia. But in fact, this was a kind of demonstration of loyalty and veneration for the supreme leader of the UTC and recognition of the leading role of Turkey itself.
For Recep Erdogan, this meeting was needed primarily for propaganda purposes, to show the unity of the “Turkic world” under his auspices. After all, the creation of the UTG is presented by those around the Turkish president as his greatest geopolitical success, which became a step towards reviving the greatness of the Ottoman Empire.
It is no coincidence that all the leaders, in addition to the traditional words of solidarity with the Turkish people, also wished them success in the upcoming elections on May 14. Therefore, this was in many ways a pre-election summit with all the ensuing consequences and a declaration of Turkey’s ambitions as the “defender of all Turks.”
It is in this regard that the final declaration contains a clause condemning the terrorist attack at the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, which showed that Ankara and the other members of the UTC fully support Baku in its confrontation with Iran.
Plus, a new participant will most likely join the OTG - Turkmenistan.
Thus, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency, “Chairman of the Khalk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed hope that Turkmenistan would soon become a full member of the Organization of Turkic States and proposed declaring the city of Merv (Mary) the cultural capital of the Turkic world in 2024.”
The next OTG summit should be held in the Kazakh city of Turkestan, which shows the special role of Kazakhstan in the overall structure of this organization. And this time Tokayev took the initiative to develop a common list of forces and technical equipment of rescue services that operate in the countries of the organization of Turkic states. And the structure itself will be created on the basis of the Center for Emergency Situations and Disaster Risk Reduction in Almaty.
But all this is, of course, a cover, since one of the main tasks of the UTG remains the same - the redirection of all energy and logistics routes for transporting resources from Central Asia, bypassing Russia through the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan to Turkey and further to Europe. For this purpose, an agreement on the creation of the Turkic Investment Fund was signed at the summit.
And already in May in Astana at the II Central Asia-EU Economic Forum there will be a presentation of the results of a study by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the technical feasibility and assessment of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). Turkish and Azerbaijani officials and entrepreneurs will be at this event.
This once again shows that the development of Turkic integration within the framework of the UTG is proceeding at an accelerated pace with the full approval of Great Britain, as the author of the project itself, the European Union and the United States, since the very concept of the organization corresponds to their interests. After all, OTG is now being used by the West as a battering ram to push Russia out of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, as well as to contain China.
To remove doubts that this is not some harmless association of a cultural, humanitarian and educational nature, but an alternative project as opposed to the EAEU to consolidate the Turkic peoples in order to undermine the position of Moscow, you can refer to the statement of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the next anniversary of the referendum on the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation.
“On the anniversary of the annexation, we confirm the unchanged position of Ankara on the issue of non-recognition of the situation. We emphasize support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The situation of the Crimean Tatars, who are the indigenous population of the peninsula, remains a priority for Turkey.
Ankara stands for preserving the historical identity of compatriots from among the Crimean Tatars in their historical homeland. Turkey will continue its efforts to ensure the security and peaceful living of the Crimean Tatars,” the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Turkey said in a statement.
As we see, the Turkish side deliberately focuses on the Crimean Tatars as its potential support base, calling them its “compatriots” and talking about “historical identity” with them. Thus, they themselves lay claim to Crimea, but on the basis of the same arguments they can now, relying on the concept of the UTG and the construction of the “Great Turan”, call their “compatriots” not only the Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Kyrgyz with the Turkmens, but also the Kazan Tatars, Bashkirs, Yakuts, Altaians and other Turks of Russia.
The alarming trend is complemented by the fact that the authorities of the “union” Kazakhstan, immediately after Antony Blinken’s visit, went to arrest Roscosmos property at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, allegedly for debts on fines for environmental damage, which amounted to 13,5 billion tenge (2,3 billion rubles ).
At the same time, Russians must pay this amount not to the budget of the Republic of Kazakhstan, but to the Baiterek company, associated with certain elite groups in the ruling class, and by decision not of the Kazakh Themis, but of the court of the Astana International Financial Center, operating under English law and with British judges.
This case clearly and clearly shows the entire neo-colonial essence of the Kazakh state, which carries out the decisions not even of its own court, but the will of London and Washington. In fact, this is another such demonstration of loyalty to the West and an unfriendly step towards Russia. In fact, these are the first steps to fulfill the instructions of the American Secretary of State.
And now, on March 17-18, the head of the British Foreign Ministry, James Cleverley, will arrive in Kazakhstan to meet with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi, a supporter of active rapprochement with the West.
In addition to the opening of the park named after Elizabeth II, the meeting will be devoted to the development of the agenda that Blinken voiced during his visit.
That is, we should expect in the near future a further growth of Russophobic and anti-Russian sentiments in the country, especially after the parliamentary elections on March 19. After all, it is already obvious that the new Mazhilis will turn out to be thoroughly national-populist and mono-national, since at the moment non-Kazakhs make up only 7% of the total number of candidates of all parties.
In fact, Astana is preparing a serious geopolitical turn away from Moscow. And OTG is now such a good way for the ruling Kazakh elite to evade Russian unification and industrial projects, since it is synonymous with “European integration” and an opportunity to rely on Ankara, supposedly to protect its “sovereignty.”
True, for the current winning team in the ruling class of Kazakhstan, led by Tokayev, this is a very dangerous game, because now these processes are being watched very closely not only in Moscow, but also in Beijing and Tehran, assessing the degree of risk of such an active rapprochement with the West. After all, at a sharp turn you can capsize and no CSTO will help.
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