By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Azemedia new logo
  • Home
  • COP29
  • Opinion
  • News
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Climate and Ecology
  • Culture
  • Diaspora
  • Interview
  • Science
  • Logistics-Transport
  • Gender
  • History
  • Defense
  • Karabakh
Aze.MediaAze.Media
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • News
  • Economy
  • Climate and Ecology
  • Energy
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Gender
  • Interview
  • Science
  • Logistics-Transport
  • History
  • Defense
  • Karabakh
  • Diaspora
  • Who we are
Follow US
© 2021 Aze.Media – Daily Digest
Aze.Media > Opinion > The advance of the Turanic world in Central Asia
Opinion

The advance of the Turanic world in Central Asia

The Turkish focus on the South Caucasus has shown how advantageous an alliance with Ankara is, capable of replacing the one with the Russians engaged in Ukraine.

AzeMedia
By AzeMedia Published June 10, 2024 6 Min Read 832 Views
147677 ap22315348302301 1673355051238
Turkmenistan's Chairman of the People's Council Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, from left, arrive to the Organization of Turkic States summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (Turkish Presidency via AP)

In the background is the great project of a ‘Middle Corridor’, linking Asia to Europe bypassing Moscow.

Several commentators in the Western and Central Asian media are trying to understand the extent to which Turkey’s influence in Central Asia is growing, taking advantage of the weakening role of Russia at the regional level to relaunch its own ‘neo-Ottoman’ projects of a Greater Turkic World.

In this context of geopolitical transitions, the West is also trying to insert itself in order to create ties that give greater access to the many natural resources of Central Asia, mainly removing them from the Kremlin’s sights.

Swedish Institute for International Relations expert Joan Engvall published an article on this subject in the American magazine National Interest, recalling how precisely Russia, following the isolation due to the sanctions regime for the invasion of Ukraine, has undertaken a very ‘opportunistic’ rapprochement in economic relations with Turkey.

Turkish exports to Russia have increased greatly, but according to Engvall not everything is working ideally, precisely because of competition from countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, which Moscow is increasingly struggling to control.

Turkey has been strengthening its presence in the Caspian area since 2020, against the background of the Nagorno Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. With military support Baku has taken some of the credit for the recovery of parts of Azerbaijani territory, as a symbol of the enlargement of the Turkic-speaking regions.

In September 2023, ‘under the eyes of Russian peacekeepers’, as Engvall points out, the whole of Karabakh returned to Azerbaijani hands, until the Russians withdrew their troops completely in April this year. The Turkish focus on the South Caucasus has shown how beneficial the alliance with Ankara is for all Turkic countries, replacing the one with the Russians engaged in Ukraine, as a security guarantee all the way to Central Asia.

Another major project unites these states with Turkey, that of the Transcaspian transport corridor, bypassing routes involving Russia, also known as the Middle Corridor, which combines automobile, railway and water routes to unite Asia with Europe. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are very actively participating in it, with the aim of creating a common development route by 2027, which will allow the increase of transport from 2 to 10 million tonnes of freight.

The countries involved are committed to eliminating customs and trade barriers, widening the narrowest spaces in seaports and mountain valleys, and the EU has decided to participate in the project with funding of USD 10 billion.

All this is part of the design of the Organisation of the Turkic Countries, in which Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan participate for the time being. They have approved the programme ‘Future of the Turkic World-2040’ to support common development in education, trade and capital mobility, services and technology, up to human, cultural and religious relations, seeking to imitate the model of the European Union itself in many fields.

Also in diplomatic relations, many transformations are taking place in the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia, seeking to diversify and become more independent internationally, always with the support of Turkey and as an alternative to Russia.

The Australian agency Conversation also analyses the increased independence in the political line of the Central Asian countries. As Anastasia Mahone, a lecturer at the British university Aberystwyth, writes, ‘a total break in relations with Russia is unlikely, due to geographical proximity and economic dependence, but there are signs that the Central Asian countries intend to take increasingly autonomous positions, without always looking to Moscow’.

He recalls the statements against Russian annexations in Ukraine by the President of Kazakhstan, Kasym-Žomart Tokaev, and other distances taken in recent years by various leaders in the region. In his opinion, ‘Central Asia walks a very fine balance between the past and the future and between East, West, North and South’.

Vladimir Rozanskij

Logo

You Might Also Like

Could Azerbaijan and Armenia weaken Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus?

The July strike that shattered Yerevan’s plans and launched the great war

Abu Dhabi as a new starting point for peace in the South Caucasus

How Türkiye views Azerbaijan-Russia tensions

First Erdoğan, then Aliyev: Yerevan admits there’s no one left to count on

AzeMedia June 10, 2024 June 10, 2024

New articles

Pashinyan aliyev e1752407152990
Could Azerbaijan and Armenia weaken Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus?
Opinion July 14, 2025
Farhad 1086x724
The South Caucasus is forming its own line: Farhad Mammadov on regional transformation and external players
Interview July 14, 2025
Ap25193441575094 e1752327098296 640x400
Syrian and Israeli officials expected to meet in Azerbaijan during Sharaa’s visit
News July 12, 2025
Siriya baku scaled
President of Syria Ahmad al-Sharaa has arrived in Azerbaijan on an official visit
News July 12, 2025
Fq39plpwwbcrz4c
Pakistani expert: “Iran’s future lies in the region, not in the West”
Interview July 12, 2025
24103d8e9b7f33e1c90d0b8f1f74c6af
The July strike that shattered Yerevan’s plans and launched the great war
Opinion July 12, 2025
Us Azerbaijan Relations
The United States has increased its investments in Azerbaijan’s economy
Economy News July 12, 2025
Abu dabi
Abu Dhabi as a new starting point for peace in the South Caucasus
Opinion July 12, 2025
Aliyev Putin August 18 2024 1536x948.jpg
How Türkiye views Azerbaijan-Russia tensions
Opinion July 12, 2025
2025 02 07t125243z 1023693602 rc2opca4d39r rtrmadp 3 azerbaijan russia 1751366812
Russia chooses a new tactic against Azerbaijan: three dangerous plans on the table
Interview July 11, 2025

You Might Also Like

Pashinyan aliyev e1752407152990

Could Azerbaijan and Armenia weaken Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus?

July 14, 2025 7 Min Read
24103d8e9b7f33e1c90d0b8f1f74c6af

The July strike that shattered Yerevan’s plans and launched the great war

July 12, 2025 6 Min Read
Abu dabi

Abu Dhabi as a new starting point for peace in the South Caucasus

July 12, 2025 14 Min Read
Aliyev Putin August 18 2024 1536x948.jpg

How Türkiye views Azerbaijan-Russia tensions

July 12, 2025 9 Min Read
Aliyev and pashinyan in abu dhabi 7 10 2025

First Erdoğan, then Aliyev: Yerevan admits there’s no one left to count on

July 11, 2025 6 Min Read
Abu dabi

The Abu Dhabi meeting — a historic breakthrough for the entire South Caucasus

July 10, 2025 8 Min Read
Mehdi sobhani

The Armenian ambassador in the body of an Iranian’: Who is using Mehdi Sobhani against Baku — and why

July 10, 2025 6 Min Read
Ria 8791119 preview

Turning point: will Aliyev and Pashinyan sign peace? And what will Russia do?

July 9, 2025 9 Min Read

Useful links

426082d1 a9e4 4ac5 95d4 4e84024eb314 pojkz91103g6zqfh8kiacu662b2tn9znit7ssu9ekg
Ab65ed96 2f4a 4220 91ac f70a6daaf659 pojkz67iflcc0wjkp1aencvsa5gq06ogif9cd0dl34
96e40a2b 5fed 4332 83c6 60e4a89fd4d0 pojkz836t9ewo4gue23nscepgx7gfkvx6okbbkasqo
759bde00 a375 4fa1 bedc f8e9580ceeca pq8mvb9kwubqf6bcadpkq5mz16nayr162k3j2084cg
aze-media-logo-ag1

We are a unique political and socio-cultural digest offering exclusive materials, translations from Azerbaijani media, and reprints of articles from around the world about Azerbaijan.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Cookies Policy

Email: editor@aze.media

© 2021 Aze.Media – Daily Digest
aze-media-logo1 aze-media-logo-ag1
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?