ON TURKEY’S POSSIBLE INVOLVEMENT IN STRENGTHENING CENTRAL ASIAN SECURITY
Abstract
During the years of independence, the relations among the Central Asian states at the regional level, as well as with other countries of the world were mostly determined by their geo-graphic location, rich natural energy resources, the post-Soviet geopolitical situation, the changing world order, and the new threats. The Central Asian countries are especially concerned with cooperation in the security sphere, not only at the national and regional levels, but also in the context of the inter-national counter-terrorist campaign in Afghanistan. This is explained by the fact that the 9/11 events and the coalition’s military invasion in Afghanistan aroused the interest of the world community, the United States and Russia in particular, in the region, opened a new stage in the development of cooperation in the security sphere, and increased political rivalry for regional influence.
It was early in the 1990s, immediately after the Soviet Union left the scene, that Turkey, sup-ported by the West, started developing relations with post-Soviet republics. After encountering opposition from Moscow, which returned to the region after a short absence, Ankara failed to establish close relations with the local states. It should be added that, unlike the Southern Caucasus, Central Asia has no common borders with Turkey and cannot, therefore, affect its interests. On top of this, Turkey was too weak economically, while the Central Asian republics did not want its strong influence in the region: they wanted direct contacts with the West and did not need intermediaries. Their ties with Turkey were mainly limited to culture, education, trade, and economics, the spheres in which Ankara could compete with Moscow.1 Russia dominated in the security sphere.2 After the series of explosions in Uzbekistan in 1999 and the Batken events in Kyrgyzstan in 1999-2000, the issue of Turkish military-technical assistance was revived together with antiterrorist cooperation between the Central Asian countries and Turkey. Then American military bases appeared in the region and the counter-terrorist campaign in Afghanistan launched, it became possible to devel-op contacts with Turkey on other security-related issues.
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