The 11th summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), which includes Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Hungary (as an observer), was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital.
Speaking with The Times of Central Asia, Kyrgyz political analyst Bakyt Baketayev noted that the OTS was initially created on a cultural and linguistic basis. However, the turbulent geopolitical situation in the world gave the organization impetus for its current development.
“The catalyst for the development of the OTS was the geopolitical situation and military-political events in the world. At the beginning of the organization’s work – in 2009 – the countries worked on cultural programs and common spiritual issues uniting Turkic peoples. Today, the members of the OTS already cooperate at the level of governments, ministries, and agencies and discuss economic issues,” Baketayev said.
Baketayev drew attention to the composition of the Organization of Turkic States. It includes countries representing different economic and political associations: NATO (Turkey), the European Union (Hungary), and the EAEU (Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan).
“We should not expect any big results from the OTS summit. There will be no common political statements – the countries are scattered geographically and have different interests. But from the economic point of view of trade development and investment development, concrete steps are quite possible,” Baketayev said.
The analyst is confident that the Organisation of Turkic States will help overcome problems related to hydropower and the lack of water resources in Central Asia. If the heads of state have common economic interests, they will be more likely to reach an agreement.
