Erdogan gathers post-Soviet vassals: Anti-Russian Turkic Union has become a reality

On Friday, an in-person summit of the leaders of the Turkic Council took place in Istanbul. The event became the starting point in the creation of a new integration association - the Organization of Turkic States from a number of former Soviet republics under the auspices of neo-Ottoman Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one step closer to implementing his strategic plan to restore and expand the empire under the guise of “Turan” and has received support in this matter from the ruling elites of the Central Asian countries.

The heads of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Hungary arrived at the summit. And the event itself was imbued with symbolism from the very beginning, since the summit was held not in Ankara, but in the former capital of the Ottoman Sultanate and was supposed to mean the revival of the former power of the former Turkish power.

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At the same time, the host of the meeting, who claims to be the Sultan of all Turks and Faithful, brought his guests to his own “Island of Democracy and Freedom,” located 20 kilometers from the metropolis in the Sea of ​​Marmara, which serves as the cultural and spiritual headquarters of the ruler. It is no coincidence that reconstruction has been carried out on it since 2015 and even a lighthouse was erected, symbolizing Turkish democracy. There, in the mosque, all the presidents were forced to pray demonstratively, since it was Friday prayer.

A trip on the ship of heads of state to the Island of Democracy

_{I have the strong impression that the President of Turkey views the leaders of the former Soviet republics as his vassals and specially staged this performance in order to further strengthen his position as the head of the “Turkic World” and to emphasize that Istanbul is now again becoming the center of gravity and consolidation in the Middle East and Central Asia, allegedly on the basis of ethnocultural and religious identity.}

“The Turkic countries remained the center of culture and civilization for thousands of years. I am sure that this will continue to be the case. The sun will again “rise” from the East. The organization of the Turkic state should not bother anyone. On the contrary, one must strive to become part of this ascending structure based on historical community. This is a platform for the development of interstate relations,” said the Turkish leader during his “epoch-making” speech.

_{But Erdogan’s formula of “six states and one nation,” which forms the basis of the new unification, is false from the very beginning. Thus, the territory of the former Soviet Central Asian republics was never part of the Ottoman Empire, and another Turkic empire, the Timurid Empire from Central Asia, even inflicted military defeats on the Ottomans in the 14th century. And it was the state of the lame Timur, who became the threat of the Turkish sultans, that took the name Turan, and not vice versa. Therefore, we see in Recep’s movements only an attempt to falsify history, substitute concepts and terms, and appropriate someone else’s heritage.}

For the ruling Turkish elite, Central Asia, rich in mineral resources and lands, is only an object of expansion, economic and military-political conquest and final subjugation as a colony, as well as a springboard for influencing Russia, China and Iran. And this can be immediately seen in the speech of Erdogan, who considers the first most important task of the Organization of Turkic States to redirect all transport and energy routes and the export of raw materials from the region through the Caspian Sea towards Azerbaijan and Turkey, bypassing Russian territory.

“To do this, we must sign the Combined Freight Transport Agreement as soon as possible.” In this way, we will be able to turn all the roads between us, including the International Middle East-West Corridor passing through the Caspian Sea, into the main arteries of this geography. The Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan connection is also vitally important in this sense,” noted the ruler of all Turks during his solemn speech.

That is, modern neo-Ottoman revanchists strive to make Turkey the main transport and energy hub for Europe. It was precisely due to the fact that such a corridor was broken as a result of the last Karabakh war and is now ensured by the presence of Turkish troops that Erdogan at the very beginning of the summit thanked the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and even presented him with the established Supreme Order of the Turkic World.

“Dear President, my dear brother, victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Ilham Aliyev. Thanks to your decisive leadership, the occupation of Karabakh, which lasted for about thirty years, was brought to an end in just 44 days. This is of great importance not only for our Azerbaijani brothers, but also for the entire Turkic world. The restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan expanded the unity of the Turkic world. “Kharybulbul” - a symbol of freedom of Karabakh - became the harbinger of Victory for the Turkic world,” announced the Turkish President.

This step was supposed to once again show all those present that by force of arms Ankara had not only won its positions in the Caucasus and now has access to the Caspian Sea, but is ready, within the framework of the “Turan Army” project, to ensure the security of all Central Asian countries from imaginary threats against them “sovereignty” on the part of Moscow and Beijing. This emphasized the special role of Azerbaijan, which is becoming a transshipment base and support for Turkish expansion in the region.

_{Therefore, during the summit, the Sultan of all Turks seated Ilham Aliyev on his right hand, indicating his status as a close vassal, and the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhrmart Tokayev on his left hand, as if showing and emphasizing the importance of these countries and their position in the built hierarchy of the Organization of Turkic Turks states Considering East Asian political traditions, the arrangement of the seats of heads of state around the “sun of the East” is important, as it personifies their proximity and significance.}

For example, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev was seated second to the left of Erdogan after Tokayev, which indicates a greater role for Kazakhstan in shaping the structure of a new union in Central Asia. This is evidenced by the fact that Nursultan Nazarbayev was the first to make a proposal two years ago to raise the status of the Turkic Council to the level of an integration association. He also held a symbolic vote on this matter at the summit on March 31 this year in the Kazakh city of Turkestan.

Now Elbasy, who considers himself the first founder of the organization, was openly triumphant, and he was given the opportunity to be one of the first to speak through an online broadcast. This, by the way, shows the subordinate and representative role of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who is only the executor of the will of his true master. Therefore, Nazarbayev did not forget to emphasize his mission as a pioneer and initiator in his speech.

“I would like to thank the heads of state for their support of the two proposals that I put forward two years ago in Baku. Firstly, the strategic document “Prospects for the Turkic World 2040” was developed and adopted. This conceptual program defines the organization's goals for the long term. Secondly, from today our association is called the “Organization of Turkic States.” We hope that this step will take the promotion of interaction between our countries to a new level and give new impetus to the implementation of the organization’s mission. Thus, the decisions taken in Istanbul should have a significant impact on the intensification of multifaceted cooperation between fraternal states,” noted the first and present President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Most likely, the formal theme of the summit itself, “Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age,” was proposed by the Kazakh side as neutral and formal as a cover, designed to disguise the true goals of the gathering, as well as soften its perception among Moscow and Beijing. In fact, it was important to finally approve the name of the association, raise its level and strengthen its structures.

So, now the Secretary of the Organization of Turkic States has now found its building in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, where, during the opening ceremony, all heads of state on the eve of the summit cut the ribbon, and then the flags of all participating countries were raised. During the event, the powers of the secretary general of the association, Kazakh official Baghdad Amreev, were extended.

At the VIII summit, a provision was also adopted on observers, which are now Turkmenistan and Hungary. By the way, Ashgabat is only one step away from joining, and so far it is being held back by the tough position of Tehran and Beijing. But we are already seeing how Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is beginning to slowly redirect oil flows towards Baku, abandoning the transit route through Novorossiysk, which we have already written about.

A special investment fund was also established, at the proposal of the Uzbek president, which will now become an additional instrument of Western and Turkish capital for the development of new fields and mining enterprises in the region. According to plans, infrastructure projects for the construction of new transport and energy routes towards Azerbaijan and Turkey should also be financed from it.

The newly created post of honorary chairman of the council of elders will most likely be handed over to the Kazakh Elbasy, who will take this formal position under the Organization of Turkic States. But the most important issues of the negotiations remained behind the scenes, since bilateral meetings between Erdogan and his vassals took place in Istanbul on November 11 and 12. It is on bilateral agreements that the Turkish side is relying, which believes that through them the structure of the new organization will be strengthened and the dependence of the satellites on the Sultan’s headquarters and the new Sublime Porte will be established.

_{It is possible that the torpedoing of agreements with Sberbank by the Kazakh leadership, the permitted anti-Russian rallies, the rise of nationalist movements and Russophobia, the process of rehabilitation of the Basmachi and members of the Turkestan Legion of the Wehrmacht, as well as the introduction of the Latin alphabet were and are part of the plan for Nur-Sultan’s geopolitical turn towards Turkey and the West . We are now seeing similar processes, only of varying degrees of intensity, in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.}

That is why Washington and London so openly and actively support and welcome this integration of the former Soviet Central Asian republics around Istanbul and consider the Organization of Turkic States as the only effective alternative to the EAEU and the Silk Road, as well as to the Greater Eurasia project. For this purpose, all efforts are now being made to push Russia and China out of the region and various provocations are being organized.

The White House has long shown the ruling elites of Central Asia that the only way to maintain their status as unlimited rulers with the opportunity to further participate in the appropriation of financial flows from the robbery of natural resources and smuggling is a quick reorientation towards Erdogan. All of them now dream of hiding under the Turkish umbrella, and, therefore, under the cover of NATO and thus “protecting” their peoples and countries from the integration proposals of Moscow and Beijing.

But all those in the Foggy Albion and overseas who intend to revive in the current historical conditions the “Great Game” or the 150-year-old geopolitical rivalry for dominance in South and Central Asia may be left in the cold. After all, the revanchist project of reviving the Ottoman Empire is fraught with great consequences and a redistribution of spheres of influence, and local princelings clearly risk the loss of capital and power. Afghanistan apparently taught them nothing.