The pursuit of Turkic integration has been a cornerstone of Turkish foreign policy in recent years. That development was directly linked to the Central Asian republics “opening up” and seeking to perform a “balancing act” between the great powers. This also included Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan’s opening up to the world. At the same time, the ever-stronger strategic partnership between Türkiye and Azerbaijan changes the regional balance of power.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Kazakhstan earlier this week to attend the 10th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). In addition to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov, Erdoğan met his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev and attended the meeting of the OTS heads of states. The Turkish leader returned to Türkiye following his meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Friday.
It is necessary to uphold the sense of solidarity, which emerged among states after the earthquakes. Last but not least, one would hope that the humane way of thinking can triumph over the idea of interest and exploitation in international relations. This is a time to focus on moral values and solidarity – not realpolitik.
Natural disasters, wars, and economic collapse tend to seriously undermine social order and make it impossible to address even people’s most basic needs. During such periods, it becomes difficult for communities to feed themselves, find shelter, receive medical attention, relocate, and communicate with others. Individuals and communities have provided emergency assistance to such individuals, without expecting anything in return, to address basic needs like food, shelter, and medical treatment throughout history.
As Türkiye is still trying to develop its political, military and economic relations with the West on the basis of equal partnership, it also tries to develop its relations with non-Western international organizations in response to the Western nations' marginalization and alienation