The grand strategy of Ankara’s national foreign policy in the "Century of Türkiye" is based on four pillars: strengthening regional peace and security, expanding the institutional basis of foreign relations, promoting economic development and prosperity in the region, and influencing the transformation of the global system.
The driving force behind all these objectives is the will of political leadership, a point that neoclassical realists emphasize. Indeed, Stephen Woolcock and Nicholas Bayne, in their study "Economic Diplomacy" published in "The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy" (2013), provide a concise definition of economic diplomacy as “decision-making and negotiation in core issues affecting international economic relations.” In this respect, it would be useful to analyze Türkiye’s economic cooperation with the Central Asian countries in light of the above principles of grand strategy.
In Türkiye’s economic relations with Central Asian countries, the goals of expanding the institutional basis of foreign relations and promoting economic development and welfare in the region are intricately intertwined. This characterization implies that Türkiye seeks a permanent and sustainable cooperation model by continuing its initiatives to develop economic relations with Central Asian countries within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), which it leads. Therefore, it appears that most key initiatives for economic cooperation are born within this organizational framework.
The idea of establishing a special economic zone with the OTS member states of Central Asia, first raised at the 8th Istanbul Summit on Nov. 12, 2021 (when the Turkic Council was officially renamed the Organization of Turkic States), was welcomed by the member states. The primary objective of the TURANSEZ economic zone, which is planned to be established in the Turkestan region of Kazakhstan, is to strengthen economic cooperation and connectivity among the Turkic states through the International Trans-Caspian East-West Middle Corridor. The official decision to establish TURANSEZ, regularly highlighted in subsequent OTS summit declarations, was adopted at the 9th OTS Summit held in Samarkand on Nov. 11, 2022.
The official opening of TURANSEZ is expected to take place in 2025. In fact, this issue was also addressed at the 11th OTS Summit held in Bishkek on Nov. 6, 2024, a few months ago. Article 61 of the declaration signed at the summit stated that, “Member States are encouraged to cooperate in organizing the official opening of TURANSEZ in 2025, which will further strengthen economic cooperation and increase investment opportunities in the region.”
The Turkish Investment Fund (TIF) was established with an initial capital of $500 million, based on the principle of equal capital contribution and equal voting, in line with the decision taken at the 9th OTS Summit held in Samarkand on Nov. 11, 2022. The TIF, which held its first board of governors meeting in Istanbul on May 18, 2024, primarily aims to increase mutual investment opportunities among member states. Its specific objective is to foster entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), create new jobs, strengthen innovation, and ultimately accelerate economic and social development among member states. The establishment of the TIF has generated significant resonance in public opinion within the OTS members, which have a combined population of about 200 million and an economic size of nearly $2 trillion.
Another important achievement of the TIF is the progress it has made toward establishing a cooperation network extending from Central Asia to Europe. One of the key milestones in this effort was the official accession of Hungary to the TIF in 2024. The certificate of accession was presented to the OTS secretariat in Istanbul on June 28, 2024, by Carmen Csernelhazi, deputy head of mission at the Consulate General of Hungary in Istanbul, thereby establishing the European link in the TIF’s network. In this respect, it can be foreseen that the TIF may become a lever for Türkiye’s economic cooperation with Central Asian countries, as well as a special tool for Türkiye-EU relations.
Bilateral trade is an important dimension of Türkiye’s economic cooperation with Central Asian countries. Ankara’s trade relations with these countries have been growing exponentially, especially after 2021. Kazakhstan is one of the leading Central Asian countries in terms of both exports to and imports from Türkiye. The desire for cooperation between the two countries has been confirmed at the leadership level. The bilateral meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Kazakh counterpart at the COP29 leaders’ summit in Baku a few months ago is significant in this regard. During this meeting, President Erdoğan stated that Türkiye and Kazakhstan “aim to deepen cooperation in the fields of defense industry, energy, agriculture, education and culture through steps to be taken in the coming period.”
The push for economic collaboration at the leadership level is also clearly seen in the relationship between Türkiye and Uzbekistan. Indeed, when the president of Uzbekistan visited Türkiye last summer, one of the key agenda items was to increase the bilateral trade volume first to $5 billion and then to $10 billion. Furthermore, economic cooperation was a central topic during President Erdoğan’s visit to Kyrgyzstan for the OTS summit in recent months.
“We discussed the steps we will take to increase our trade volume, which approached $2 billion last year, to $5 billion. Türkiye is among the top five countries investing in Kyrgyzstan,” Erdoğan stated, reinforcing this commitment.
