“The example of Kazakhstan showed that Moscow and Ankara could achieve a lot by acting as a united front against the West, which supported the January riots in the Central Asian country. If there is a conflict between Turkey and Russia in Central Asia, the United States will necessarily use it.”
United World International expert Onur Sinan Güzaltan gave an interview to Russian news outlet NEWS.ru. Below we present the interview as published by NEWS.ru, the original text can be read here.
The second meeting of the Uzbek-Turkish Strategic Cooperation Council in Tashkent was held with the participation of the presidents of the two countries. Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a joint statement following the meeting, where the parties state to have agreed on lifting relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”. Nine agreements in the field of economics and informatics were also signed at the government level.
For Turkey, Uzbekistan is a gateway to Asia
United Word International expert Onur Sinan Güzaltan evaluated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Uzbekistan and Turkey’s policies towards Central Asia to Russian news outlet NEWS.ru.
According to Güzaltan, the states of Central Asia, in particular Uzbekistan, are in Turkey considered as a gateway to Asia.
Guzaltan made the following evaluations on Turkey-Uzbekistan relations; “As President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his visit to Uzbekistan, Turkey was the first to recognize the independence of Uzbekistan and open an embassy in the country. There is ‘high-level cooperation’ between the two countries in the political, military, commercial, economic and cultural fields.”
Güzaltan stated that the strategic cooperation between the two countries is based on the agreements made in 2017 and continues to deepen.
Stating that new cooperation opportunities have emerged in commercial relations, defense industry and infrastructure with President Erdogan’s visit, Güzaltan said, “Turkey’s primary goal is to develop cooperation with Uzbekistan, especially in the commercial field.”
Central Asia is an area of cooperation, not competition
Responding to the Russian news outlet NEWS.ru.’s question whether Turkey’s activities in Central Asia are against Russia, Güzaltan made the following statements:
“It is useful to get rid of our prejudices when evaluating Ankara-Moscow relations in general and specifically in Central Asia. We should consider Central Asia as an area of cooperation, not competition. Thus, regional cooperation will be deepened and interventions and provocations by forces outside the region will be prevented.”
According to Guzaltan, what happened in Kazakhstan is an important example for Turkish-Russian cooperation in Central Asia: “The example of Kazakhstan showed that Moscow and Ankara can achieve a lot by acting as a united front against the West. The West has supported the January riots in Kazakhstan. If there is a conflict between Turkey and Russia in Central Asia, the United States will necessarily use it. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation between Moscow and Ankara in Central Asia, in the Caucasus, in the Black Sea and in Syria.”