Türkiye aims to deepen institutional integration and increase the global visibility of the Turkic world as it prepares to assume the rotating presidency of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said Friday.
Duran made the remarks in a video message to a panel titled “Turkic World Dialogues: Common Future, Common Vision,” organized by Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications in the Kazakh capital Astana.
Türkiye will host the 13th meeting of the OTS Council of Foreign Ministers on Oct. 29, followed by a summit of the organization’s leaders on Oct. 30, Duran said.
He described the meetings as a new milestone in the Turkic world’s joint efforts and said Türkiye would assume the OTS term presidency at the summit.
Duran said Ankara was determined to further advance the institutional integration and global visibility of the Turkic world.
The panel brought together Turkish and Kazakh academics, representatives of diplomatic missions from OTS member and observer countries and members of the media to discuss the current state and future of cooperation among Turkic states.
Participants focused on integration, shared history and cultural heritage as well as strengthening economic, scientific, technological and people-to-people ties.
Türkiye’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan Mustafa Kapucu said rapid changes in the international system presented a historic opportunity for the Turkic world.
Stretching between Europe and Asia, the region has the potential to become one of the emerging centers of the global system because of its young population, natural resources, production capacity, energy potential and strategic transportation routes, Kapucu noted.
Talgat Moldabay, an academic at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, emphasized the role of shared history and culture in strengthening ties among Turkic societies.
He called for greater cooperation on a common alphabet and terminology and proposed developing shared digital libraries, text archives, scientific databases and artificial intelligence-supported data sets.
Janat Momınkulov, a professor at the same university, said differences in the historical experiences of Turkic states could become a source of strength if managed effectively.
“If we can evaluate this correctly, the Turkic world can become a much stronger economic and geopolitical actor,” Momınkulov said.
He also called on Turkic states to move beyond exporting natural resources as raw materials by developing technology, increasing value-added production and strengthening their positions in global markets.
Suat Beylur, director of the Eurasian Research Institute at Khoja Ahmet Yassawi International Turkish-Kazakh University, stressed the importance of expanding educational, scientific, cultural and professional mobility.
Beylur said sustainable integration required multidirectional exchanges rather than movement centered primarily on Türkiye.
Hasan Ali Karasar, rector of Cappadocia University, meanwhile, highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in preserving and developing Turkic languages in the digital age.
Karasar said Ankara, Astana, Baku, Tashkent and Ashgabat each possessed distinct historical experiences, national priorities and strategic expertise that should be shared to develop a common vision across the Turkic world.
Originally launched as the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States by Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the group evolved into the OTS at its landmark Istanbul summit in November 2021. The rebranding was widely interpreted as the start of a new era for the Turkic integration process, signaling an ambition to translate cultural bonds into geopolitical clout.
Türkiye's trade with members of the OTS surpassed $10 billion from January through July of this year, the Trade Ministry said earlier this month.
The trade rose 6.6% year-over-year to $10.1 billion in the first seven months, the ministry said in a statement.
Kazakhstan was Türkiye's largest trading partner among the OTS members last year, with bilateral trade totaling $7.8 billion. It was followed by Azerbaijan with $4.3 billion, Uzbekistan with $3.1 billion and Kyrgyzstan with $1.6 billion.
