The key facts

  • On October 30, at a meeting of the OTS Council of Heads of State, Tokayev proposed ensuring Russia's participation in the organization — as a member or an observer.
  • The President of Kazakhstan emphasized that the OTS is not, and must not become, a military alliance.
  • The organization includes Uzbekistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; observers are Turkmenistan, Hungary and Northern Cyprus.

A proposal at the summit in Ankara

On October 30, at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States held in Ankara, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed ensuring Russia's participation in the organization's work. According to him, 'in order to enhance the authority of our organization, it would be a right and fair decision to respond positively to Russia's intention and offer it to join this format or to take part in the OTS's activities as an observer.' This was reported by Daryo.uz and Gazeta.uz citing the speech published on the Akorda website.

Tokayev's arguments

The head of Kazakhstan justified the proposal by Russia's close historical ties with the Turkic world: according to him, 'representatives of many Turkic peoples have historically lived' on the country's territory, and the Russian language contains many words of Turkic origin. He also recalled that Russia is promoting the project 'Altai — the cradle of Turkic civilization,' which Kazakhstan supports. 'If Russia became part of the Turkic countries, that is, of our organization, it would benefit all of our states,' the publications quote Tokayev as saying.

The caveat about a military alliance

At the same time, Tokayev reiterated the position he voiced in May this year at the informal OTS summit in Turkestan: the organization 'is not, and in the future must not become, a military alliance.' 'This is Kazakhstan's position,' he emphasized. The president also proposed establishing a Council of Permanent Representatives under the OTS and noted that in recent years the organization's scope of activity has expanded and covers 60 different areas.

Context

The Organization of Turkic States was created in 2009 for cooperation among countries with common Turkic roots. Today it includes Uzbekistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; Turkmenistan, Hungary and Northern Cyprus have observer status. As Kun.uznotes, the organization, in particular, promotes a common Turkic alphabet based on the Latin script, and in 2025 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev proposed holding joint military exercises of OTS member states, which provoked discontent among pro-government commentators in Russia. The publications do not report any reaction from other summit participants or from Russia itself to Tokayev's proposal.