Escalating tensions linked to the widening conflict in the Middle East have tested the political cohesion of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), according to Kazakh political commentator Dzhanibek Suleyev.
Recent incidents affecting both Azerbaijan and Turkey — including drone strikes in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and a missile intercepted by Turkish air defenses — have raised security concerns across the wider region. Suleyev argues that developments of this scale might normally prompt an urgent summit of heads of state. Instead, Turkey convened an informal meeting of foreign ministers and senior diplomatic representatives from OTS member states.
The gathering took place on March 7, when officials convened at the invitation of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. According to Turkish media, ministers later met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during their visit.
Speaking to The Times of Central Asia, Suleyev drew attention to how the meeting was covered in the media of Central Asian member states.
“In the Uzbek press, coverage was limited, and even on the website of their Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is not a single word about the informal summit of OTS foreign ministers. Kazakhstan, moreover, was represented not by Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev but by his deputy Alibek Bakayev. Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry issued four notes about the trip of its minister Jeenbek Kulubaev to Istanbul, three of which were devoted to the summit, but without any particular details,” Suleyev said.
Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry published a short summary of the meeting, noting in broad terms that representatives discussed cooperation among Turkic states and regional developments.
According to Suleyev, the joint statement adopted after the meeting was difficult to find outside of Azerbaijani media. One of the few outlets to publish the text in full was Azerbaijan’s APA news agency.
Much of the statement focused on the incidents affecting Azerbaijan and Turkey, stressing that “any threat to the security of OTS member states causes concern for the entire Organization… The ministers strongly condemned the attacks carried out from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including strikes against civilian facilities and the territory of the Republic of Turkey,” the statement continued.
“The rest of the statement boils down to destabilization in the Middle East could lead to a global economic crisis, the Palestinian conflict must be resolved taking into account UN resolutions, and so on,” Suleyev told TCA.
One notable event during the meeting was the foreign ministers’ reception by President Erdoğan. Official summaries released by participating governments described the discussion in diplomatic terms. “Kazakh sources wrote that ‘prospects for the development of cooperation within the framework of Turkic cooperation were discussed,’” Suleyev said. Kyrgyz statements used similar language, stating that the “President of Turkey… noted the importance of regular dialogue on current regional and international issues and expressed interest in further developing multilateral cooperation within the framework of the Organization.”
“In short, these are streamlined diplomatic formulations without specific details,” Suleyev said.
According to a press release from the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, the discussions also addressed issues beyond the Middle East. Ministers exchanged views on tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as concerns related to potential sanctions affecting Kyrgyzstan.
“The discussion of sanctions noted that unilateral restrictive measures negatively affect global trade and the stability of economic ties. The position of the Kyrgyz Republic on the need to observe the principles of international law and the inadmissibility of unilateral measures outside the framework of the United Nations Security Council was emphasized,” the ministry stated.
For Suleyev, the restrained tone of official statements and limited coverage in the region’s media point to deeper structural limits within the organization.
“These nuances and the minimal coverage in the press of the interested states indicate the inability of Ankara and Baku to ensure significant progress in integration even within the OTS itself,” he said.
Suleyev also pointed to the organization’s broader ambitions to expand cooperation with outside partners through formats sometimes described as OTS+. According to Suleyev, these initiatives appear aimed primarily at Hungary, an EU member state that has previously shown interest in cooperation with the organization. “That interest is connected with the search for an alternative to Russian hydrocarbons,” Suleyev said.
Originally founded in 2009 as the Turkic Council, the OTS brings together Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan, with observer states including Hungary and Turkmenistan. In recent years, the organization has expanded its agenda beyond cultural cooperation toward economic and transport connectivity across the Turkic world.
