Nations capable of protecting themselves in the stormy current of globalization, powers rooted in history, can endure.
It is precisely at such a time that the establishment of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) is an important call of the modern era.
This cooperation platform is gradually forming as one of the more serious geopolitical centers. Today, the world has become an arena of interest for great powers. New conflict zones, economic collapses, the threat of cultural assimilation – these are challenges that also encompass the Turkic world. In such a period, the strengthening of the OTS and the deepening of cooperation is the boundary between surviving and sustaining.
The ranks of the Organization of Turkic States are expanding. This union is now moving beyond the cultural sphere towards economic, military, and strategic cooperation. Common economic zones, unified transport corridors, Turkic universities, joint media projects, a common alphabet – these are the bridges to the future.
The late ex-president Abulfaz Elchibey was one of the most sincere and idealistic proponents of the Turan idea.
For Abulfaz Elchibey, Turan was not merely a political union, but a spiritual awakening, the restoration of national identity, and the living of the Turkic world in one spirit. He wanted to transform this idea from a romantic dream into a real political goal. This idea was repeatedly reiterated in Elchibey's speeches, writings, and activities.
This photo, presented in the "History of a Photo" section of the Modern.az website, depicts a meeting of very high historical and symbolic value. One of the first events where leaders of newly independent Turkic states gathered...
Time – October 30, 1992, location – Ankara city... The heads of the Turkic republics gathered in Turkey under the leadership of Turkish President Turgut Özal.
From left to right: Kyrgyz leader Askar Akayev, Uzbek President Islam Karimov, Turkish President Turgut Özal, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Azerbaijani President Abulfaz Elchibey
There is a striking detail in the photo: Abulfaz Elchibey is standing a little apart from the other leaders. What was the reason for this?
Adalat Tahirzade, Elchibey's private press secretary who provided the photograph, explained it as follows:
"Abulfaz Bey did not consider the Central Asian presidents to be democrats, so he did not link arms with them and stood apart. He himself told me the reason."
The tableau above is the photographic embodiment of the hope for the reunification of Turkic peoples who once lived divided within different empires. For Abulfaz Elchibey, such meetings were not merely diplomatic visits – for him, these were historical steps taken for the awakening and unity of the Turkic world.
Elchibey was one of the leaders who openly advocated the Turan idea in such meetings.
This photo is a testament to one of the first initiatives that laid the foundation for the Organization of Turkic States. Although these meetings were merely at the level of declarations of intent at that time, today a structured form of that idea, the OTS (Organization of Turkic States), is active.
A. Gafarli
