Turkic Unity: Words and Deeds

I write regularly about Turkic unity, about Turan, about the brotherhood of our peoples. I take every success of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as my own – and that is only natural for a politician who sees the independent Turkic states not simply as countries with kindred languages, but as a living pillar of the future for those of our peoples who remain in Russia.

When the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was established, I was as happy as a child. I thought: at last the Turkic peoples have begun to unite! Year after year I watched the independent Turkic states draw ever closer, and I thought: “Any moment now, just a little longer, and that golden age of Turan will finally arrive!”

Creating the Organization of Turkic States was the politically right step: for the first time since the collapse of the USSR, the Turkic countries gained a standing forum for regular dialogue at the highest level. The architecture of the OTS looks impressive – five members, several observers, a growing agenda, summits, institutions of its own, talk of common standards and even of a single economic zone.

But when I hear about the deeds that have been announced and then look at reality, I grow sad.

To what extent are Turkic brotherhood and unity backed by real deeds?

There is movement within the OTS; that much is beyond dispute. But in my view it matches neither the spirit of the times nor the challenges facing the Turkic peoples.

This is especially clear now, when the geopolitical situation has turned out exceptionally favourable for the Turkic world. Russia is bogged down in its war against Ukraine and has been weakened – it can no longer use its leverage to push its interests in Central Asia as it did just five or six years ago. What is more, Russia itself now depends on the Turkic countries for migration, transit and resources. This is a rare window of opportunity, the kind not every generation of politicians is given: a chance to realise their countries’ potential to the full.

And what has been done with it? The Turkic states are developing, strengthening their own positions and diversifying their foreign ties – and that is sensible. They have a real opportunity to move ever further away from the “Russian world”. Yet instead we hear calls to invite Russia into the OTS.

What for? So that Moscow can regain the power to dictate the agenda and set us against one another – exactly what it has historically done every time it was given the chance?

Today Russia is a prison for many Turkic peoples – and yet it is being invited to the table of the Turkic world’s main organisation.

Now, while Russia has tied its own hands with its war against Ukraine, it is essential to strengthen defences, build up armies and create a Turkic military bloc of our own. Instead we are told that the OTS is not a military alliance and must never become one.

And this comes from the president of a country that faces constant threats from that very “Russian world”. Nor do the threats come only from fringe figures: they come from Russian lawmakers and senior officials.

In such a situation, defence capabilities must be built up without delay. If Ukraine falls, it is Kazakhstan that will be next in the line of fire.

And so it is with everything! Words and deeds do not match.

We, the Turkic peoples of Russia, look to the independent Turkic countries with hope. We expect you to become strong and united – and to start noticing your brothers who remain in bondage.

But in return we are ignored completely.

Not one president of a Turkic country dares to express even concern about the situation of the Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Kumyks, Sakha, Karachays, Balkars, Nogais, Tuvans, Altaians and Khakas. There are almost ten million of us – yet it is as if no one sees us. They pretend we do not exist. And what of the genocide that Russia is inflicting on the Crimean Tatars?

Russia is destroying our languages, jailing our activists, throwing our peoples into a war that is not ours, plundering our republics and destroying our natural environment. Russification and assimilation are taking place openly, in full view of the whole world. And the leaders of the independent Turkic countries remain silent.

The Uyghurs, it seems, have been forgotten altogether. Twelve million Uyghurs are under brutal pressure from China – and from the Turkic world there is only silence. Just a few years ago Turkey’s President Erdoğan spoke out openly in their defence. Today even he is silent.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey; the other Turkic countries are afraid to recognise it, even though it takes part in the OTS as an observer. And what a symbol of Turkic unity it would be if every Turkic country recognised Northern Cyprus!

If the Turkic states are afraid to recognise even Northern Cyprus, what can be said of the Turkic republics within Russia? The Turkic states will certainly not stand up for us.

The Turkic peoples of Central Asia live their own lives and seem not to notice that there is a people among them called the Karakalpaks. Summits of Turkic states come and go, yet Karakalpakstan has no representation at them whatsoever.

Turkic opposition figures who have devoted their lives to fighting for the rights of their own peoples, and who are persecuted by the Russian authorities, cannot find refuge in the Turkic countries. They are forced to leave for the West – because they do not feel safe even among their brothers.

Those who have already settled in the West cannot travel to the Turkic states, whether for a visit or to see relatives: they fear they will be seized and handed over to Russia.

I want to believe that sooner or later we will achieve the unity we have spoken of for so long. That one day the age of Turan will come – a time when the Turkic countries are ready to create a Turkic Union, when there are no borders between them and they vote in concert at the UN, defending their common interests. When Turan has a single currency, common standards and a single military alliance, the whole world will have to reckon with the Turkic peoples as a mighty force.

And it is precisely such a union that will one day stand up for the other Turkic peoples who are deprived of their freedom today.

For now, though, hope gives way to disappointment, and disappointment gives way to hope once again.

Dilde, fikirde, işte birlik!