It can be concluded that the articles published in Russia's leading media about the Turkic States Organization Gabala summit were prepared from the same source.
The sentences in the articles are also similar to each other. In the articles published by the Russian media, they tried to create a negative impression among readers about the results of the summit.
The Kremlin-controlled media highlighted three main points. First, they wrote that President Ilham Aliyev’s proposal about joint military exercises of the Turkic States Organization next year was supposedly not supported by other members.
Second, despite Turkey’s desire, the Central Asian Turkic states do not want to officially recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Third, Turkmenistan still does not want to be a member of the organization.
The leaders who spoke at the summit made various proposals and all these proposals will be reviewed. In this regard, the realization of Ilham Aliyev’s proposal on joint military exercises is highly likely.
The Russian media draws attention to the fact that after Ilham Aliyev proposed joint military exercises, the leaders of other member states did not comment on this proposal. The Kremlin-controlled media wrongly concluded here that the leaders of the Central Asian countries are not interested in joint military exercises. If so, Ilham Aliyev also did not respond to the proposals of other leaders. However, this does not mean that Ilham Aliyev will not be interested in the implementation of various proposals by the Presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on different topics.
The Kremlin media also wrote that Kazakhstan will not participate in military exercises within the framework of the Turkic States Organization because it is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. However, Turkey and Azerbaijan have expanded military cooperation with Kazakhstan, and in recent years, military exercises have been held at various levels among the three states.
Regarding the membership of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the Turkic States Organization, Turkey and Azerbaijan support this country’s membership, while the Central Asian countries approach this issue cautiously. The Russian media claimed that the Central Asian countries did not recognize Northern Cyprus in Gabala. However, this issue was not on the agenda in Gabala. The main issue is ensuring the transition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus from an observer status to a membership status in the Turkic States Organization. This is a matter for the future, but the fact that the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus sat at the main table with the Turkic states leaders is itself a step forward.
Turkmenistan's interest in the organization has also increased. A few days before the Gabala summit, the Russian media wrote that Turkmenistan’s leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow would not attend the meeting. Just as most of what the Russian media wrote was false, these "forecasts" also did not come true. In fact, what the Russian media wrote showed that the Kremlin is concerned about the increasing integration among Turkic states.
Elkhan Shahinoglu,
political analyst
