Turkic States in the 30th Year of Independence and Cooperation
On the 15th of October 2021, the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) along with the Turkic Council and the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR) had the pleasure to organize a public international conference on the topic of “Turkic States in the 30th Year of Independence and Cooperation: New Opportunities for Regional Peace and Cooperation in the South Caucasus”.
The welcoming and opening remarks were made by the director of IFAT, Márton Ugrósdy and Amb. Farid Shafiyev, the Chairman of AIR Center. They both emphasized the importance of the event and the deepening relations of Hungary and the Turkic states. Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council, Gismat Gozalov aside from recognizing the achievements of the countries in the last 30 years, announced Turkmenistan as an observer state at the next Summit, being held on the 8th of November 2021. H.E. Amb. Péter Sztáray, State Secretary for Security Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary presented the Hungarian point of view of the topic and highlighted the strengthening partnership with the Turkic states. Moreover, he expressed his welcome to the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The speakers of the event were H.E. Hasan Hasanov, Member of the Council of Elders of the Turkic Council from the Republic of Azerbaijan, former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and H.E. Binali Yildirim, Member of the Council of Elders of the Turkic Council from the Republic of Turkey, former Prime Minister and Minister of Transport. H.E. Hasan Hasanov emphasized the sacrifices of the people of Azerbaijan, who gave their life to the ideas of them being independent. H.E. Binali Yildirim described the challenges that the countries of the Turkic Council have to faces when they make a common cause. H.E. Tahir Taghizadeh, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Hungary as the keynote speaker underlined the support of the Turkic Council towards Azerbaijan and explained the growing importance of the Zangazur Corridor.
The first Panel Session dealt with the topic of “Turkic States in the 30th Year of Independence and Growing Relations with Turkey and Hungary” moderated by Viktor Eszterhai. Uran Akhmetov called for a solid economic base and joint measures to ensure peace, conducting dialogue and educating younger generations. Alua Zholdybalina described the situation of Kazakhstan and proposed the idea of establishing think tanks to enhance the cooperation between the Turkic Council and Kazakhstan. The next panelist, Sanjar Valiyev highlighted the importance of transition to digital tools in the economy with the help of IT specialists. The last speaker of the first panel was Amb. János Hóvári who provided a brief but a very informative summary of the history of the past events from the fall of the Soviet Empire until recent days.
The overarching question of the second panel was how to build peace and cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the broader region of the South Caucasus in the wake of the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Alpar Aktas, Acting Deputy Director General of SAM named the four major interests of Turkey regarding the conflict, that is the maintenance of stability, the normalization of relations, economic cooperation and the incorporation of the region into the Euroatlantic world. He emphasized the role of Turkey in the current situation as an initiator of peace talks and problematized the negative attitude of Armenia towards this process. Cavid Veliyev, Head of Department of AIR Center added that the establishment of a 3+3 platform (including Georgia, Iran and Russia as well) would foster stable relations. Zoltán Egeresi, Associate Research Fellow of IFAT expressed Hungary’s intentions of enhancing Hungarian-Azeri and Hungarian-Turkish relations. He also touched upon current geopolitical trends in the Southern Caucasus such as the growing influence of Turkey, the involvement of Russian peacekeepers and the importance of the creation of an East-West economic corridor (the Zangezur corridor). In the discussion, the three panelists agreed that the leverage of the Turkic Council and Russia improved substantially during the war and that the EU and the USA were unable to realize their interests efficiently.
After the coffee break the third panel discussion took place with the title “A New Transport Corridor in the Making and Its Reflections to the Regional Economic Cooperation”. Frist, Orkhan Bagirov hold a presentation of the Geo-Economic Atlas of the Turkic World. The atlas was presented during the event first, before its official publication. In the next part of the discussion Shakhnoza Kodirova focused on the role of Uzbekistan and how the regional transport corridors enable the country to get an easy access to the international market. According to László Vasa the improving connectivity options, including the Zangezur corridor, offer new opportunities for the countries of the region to be less isolated.
The closing remarks were made by Amb. Farid Shafiyev the Director of AIR Center and Márton Ugrósdy the director of IFAT, who were both delighted with the outcome of the whole day.
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