Taking Stock: Turkey and the Turkic World 20 Years Later

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Summary: After the fall of the

Soviet Union, Turkey attempted

to step into the power vacuum

left in Central Asia. It sensed an

opportunity for itself because of

its close ethnic, linguistic, and

religious connections to Kazakh-

stan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan,

and Uzbekistan. After recognizing

the newly independent Turkic

republics, Ankara started to

establish institutions to develop

relations with them and encour-

aged businessmen, universi-

ties, and artists to do so. But

these initiatives have not always

delivered results or facilitated

real cooperation. Yet we should

not be surprised to see Ankara

assigning heightened importance

to the larger Turkic world in its

emerging foreign policy as Turkeygives up its former commitment

to the status quo for a more

visible strategic activism.

Analysis

Taking Stock: Turkey and the Turkic World

20 Years Later

by Nadir Devlet

November 10, 2011

Washington, DC• Berlin • Paris • Brussels

BelgraDe • ankara • BuCharest • WarsaW

O f f i c e s

Analysis

When the USSR dissolved in 1991,

to the surprise o most Sovietolo-gists, one o the burning questionsconcerned the shape and depth o thesubstantial vacuum a diminution o Russian power in non-Russian areas o the ormer Soviet Union was certainto cause. Some regions, like the BalticStates, already claimed solid attach-ments to Europe, and little uncertainty surrounded where they would anchorthemselves going orward. In contrast,Central Asia was a much more

complex problem. Ethnically, linguisti-cally, culturally, and religiously mixed,Central Asia had never enjoyed attach-ments to Europe or to any other greatpower except Russia, now in decline.It had been articially isolated by rigidSoviet borders rom populations o ethnic and religious kin in borderingstates like China, Aghanistan, andIran, all o which were as wary o howthe political turmoil the collapse o Soviet power and the onset o nominalindependence among the new statesmight inect their own disaectedpopulations as they were excited at theprospects o expanding inuence intothe newly opened Central Asian terri-tories. So who would ll this vacuum?

urkey was one o the vanguardcountries sensing an opportunity or itsel because o its close ethnic,

linguistic, and religious connections to

Central Asia’s ve new states. (In thebeginning ajikistan was mistakenly also counted as a urkic country.) Yeturkish diplomats, politicians, journal-ists, and academics had little or vagueknowledge about these newly inde-pendent countries. In the Cold Warera, the USSR and everything relatedto it was taboo, the enemy. Only a ewscholars who were working on theancient or medieval period o urkishhistory, literature, and language were

able to gather inormation about theurkic peoples o the Soviet Union, butlike scholars elsewhere, their accessto Central Asia itsel and to researchmaterials was limited.

Moreover, urkish scholars or themost part were predisposed to astenmainly on similarities betweenurkey and the urkic societies o Central Asia — a common culturalbackground, history, and heritage —

ignoring many proound dierences.Not surprisingly, such analyses ledto one-sided and misleading conclu-sions. In reality, the urks o urkey and Central Asia’s urkic peoples hadbeen less than intimate with each otheror many centuries, during whichtime commonalities declined, andduring the Soviet period they werecut o rom each other completely



Analysis

2

Analysis

students were invited. Students rom the Balkans, Middle

East, and Asian countries were included in the programsoon aer it was launched. As a result, not only studentsrom the independent urkic republics and urkic regionso the Russian Federation, but also students rom a widerange o countries had access to secondary and tertiary education in urkey.

During 1992-2000, 20,665 students were invited to urkey or education, 3,076 o them graduated and 9,935 studentshad their scholarships cancelled because o absenteeismor other reasons. Te project still continues, although withdeclining number o students. o date, urkey has spent

approximately US$250 million or this project. Tesegures indicate that the urkish scholarship program wasnot as successul as urkish authorities hoped. Tere aredierent reasons or the ailure o this ambitious scholarshipprogram. Te main reason may have been the amount o scholarship given per student. urkey hoped that studentseducated in urkey through this program would becomecultural representatives in their respective countries. Butit is doubtul that students who were not satised or leurkey without nishing their education could be expectedto be goodwill representatives.

urkey also had direct involvement abroad, establishing twouniversities in urkic republics, one in Kazakhstan, and one

in Kyrgyzstan. Te Akhmet Yasawi urkish-Kazak Univer-sity was ounded in 1994 in urkestan in southern Kazakh-stan. Kyrgyzstan-urkey Manas University opened in 1996in Bishkek, the capital o Kyrgyzstan. Both universities arenanced by urkey.

Another private initiative was conducted primarily by thereligious leader Fethullah Gülen and his Nur community,which are propagating Islamic values. Te Gülen move-ment concentrated in ormer Soviet republics mainly in

as the direct object o Soviet policy. Émigré communi-

ties o Central Asians in Istanbul and other urkish citieswere considered the worst o enemies by Soviet authori-ties precisely because these émigrés were requently andimplacably motivated to oppose Soviet domination o theirpeoples captive inside the USSR. So orcing distinctions wasan act o Soviet social engineering with a purely politicalintent. For example, each Soviet urkic society was orderedto develop its own distinct alphabet, language, and literatureso that they diverged rom each other, and o course rommore distant urkey, even in daily language. Despite thesedivergences and against considerable evidence, urkishscholars insisted that only one urkish language existed

with many dialects, the latter spoken in the new states o Central Asia. From there it was a short hop to the conclu-sion that the urks o urkey and the urkic peoples o theormer Soviet Union shared not just language but traditionsand culture. And o course they were all Muslims. Tispredisposition was to lead to many misunderstandings inthe rst years o urkey’s involvement in the ormer Sovietspace.

Aer recognizing the newly independent urkic republics,Ankara started to establish institutions to develop relationswith them and encouraged businessmen, universities, and

artists to do so. Te rst important ofcial step was thecreation o urkish Cooperation and Development Agency (İKA) in the beginning o 1992. IKA was an agency within the Foreign Ministry with its own budget and sta,created in order to provide technical and cultural supportto the newly independent urkic republics. In May 1999,IKA was moved to the prime minister’s ofce and restruc-tured. IKA now works toward not only the urkic repub-lics, but is also involved in 37 countries. During the period2005 — 2009, US$7 billion o resources were channeled toIKA through public and private sources, but it is likely thatthe amounts directed to the post-Soviet space were not large

because aer 2002 the agency was more involved in theBalkans, Middle East, and Arica.

urkey chose education as the second area o supportto the urkic republics to promote the urkish imageabroad. When ormer urkish President Süleyman Demirellaunched an educational program in 1992 to grant scholar-ships not just to students rom the urkic republics, butalso those rom the Russian Federation — the home o largeurkic populations o atars, Bashkirs, and others — 10,000

Turkey hoped that students

educated in Turkey would become

cultural representatives in their

respective countries.



Analysis

3

Analysis

Turkey is involved in the Turkic

World beyond just the educational

or scientic elds. Many activities

are underway in political,

economic, and religious areas as

well.

the Muslim regions. Approximately 70 schools in ve

urkic republics and 30 in the urkic regions o the RussianFederation were established by the Gülen community. Tey were well received by the local authorities because they maintained high education standards and taught studentsnot only in local languages, but also Russian, urkish, andEnglish. Te prospect o receiving an education in English,recognized as the undamental global language in contrastto Russian’s more limited usage, is one o the main reasonsparents send their children to these schools. Graduates romthese schools quickly employed their knowledge o Englishin uture college education and in business.

In more recent years, the Russian Federation and Uzbeki-stan banned these schools. Both countries were suspi-cious that religious inuence would taint the students,and authorities worried openly that graduates o theseschools become potential Islamic extremists. Indeed, ontheir ace, these schools appeared ully secular. But themajority were boarding schools where students receivedtheir Islamic instruction and training in hard-to-monitordormitories. Despite this prejudice, Fethullah Gülen’sschools have expanded to more than 100 countries. o showthe success o these schools, almost every year urkishLanguage Olympics are being organized. At the 9 th urkish

Olympiad in 2010, approximately 1,000 students rom 130countries — mostly rom Central Asia, Russia, the Balkans,the Middle East, and Arica — attended and perormed,singing, reading poems, or perorming other kinds o playsin urkish.

urkey is involved in the urkic World beyond just theeducational or scientic elds. Many activities are underway in political, economic, and religious areas as well. Aer therecognition o urkic republics by urkey, leaders o theserepublics started to hold summit meetings under Ankara’sinitiative. Te rst o these summits, called “Summit o

Heads o State o urkish Speaking States,” was held in1992, and the 10th took place last year in İstanbul. Duringthe summit in Nakhchevan, Azerbaijan, in 2009, partici-pating leaders decided to create a Council o Coopera-tion o urkish Speaking States (urkish Council) withits headquarters in Istanbul. In addition to this, ÜRKPA(urkish Speaking Countries Parliamentarian Assembly),which was ounded in Baku in November 2008; ÜRKSOY(Joint Administration o urkic Arts and Culture), whichwas ounded on June 1993 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and has

its headquarters in Ankara; and the urkish Academy withits seat in Astana, Kazakhstan, were all integrated into theurkish Council. Tis new organization had its rst summitin Almaty on October 20-21, 2011 and discussed economiccooperation amongst its members.

Tese initiatives have not always delivered results or acili-tated real cooperation among the six urkic republics.Uzbekistan has been attending the urkish summits since1998, yet along with urkmenistan it did not sign agree-ments regarding establishing o ÜRKPA or the urkish

Council. Although they are called urkish speaking repub-lics, participants in these summits actually speak in theirown native languages or Russian. Still, urkey has not givenup the dream o close cooperation with these countries.

urkey has ocused attention on the autonomous regionswithin the Russian Federation or Ukraine that boastsubstantial urkic populations. For example, urkey openeda General Consulate in Kazan, the capital o atarstan(part o the Russian Federation) in 1996 with Moscow’sapproval. urkey’s President Abdullah Gül visited Kazanon October 3, 2009 when he was returning rom an ofcial

visit to Moscow. Prime Minister Recep ayyip Erdoğan also visited on March 17, 2011. More recently, in October 2011,Minister o Foreign Aairs Ahmet Davutoğlu ound a diplo-matic solution to bring the remains o a amous Crimeanatar émigré, author Cengiz Dağcı, rom England to theCrimean Republic, which is part o Ukraine. Te uneralwas held in Simeropol. Te urkish delegation consistedo two ministers, Davutoğlu and Minister o Culture andourism Ertuğrul Günay, and some 200 urkish citizens.



Analysis

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Analysis

Te uneral prayer was led by urkey’s President o Reli-

gious Aairs, Pro. Dr. Mehmet Gömez.urkey’s growing attention to the cause o urkic solidarity in both substantive and symbolic ways may be part o thedriving orce behind Russian Prime Minister VladimirPutin’s recent proposal to create a “Eurasian Union”composed o Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.1 On the very next day aer the announcement, Abdullah Gül respondedpointedly to Putin’s appropriating much o the post-Sovietspace to Russia’s interests — and implicitly against urkey’s— when he opened the international conerence on the 20 th

anniversary o urkish republics in Ankara. urkey, along

with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, andurkmenistan, he stated, should act in consciousness as“one nation, six republics.”

In sum, urkey’s eorts to penetrate the urkic regions o the ormer Soviet Union with its own inuence have had anumber o successes and ailures. President Gül has been aparticular advocate or a more assertive urkish approach inthis regard. Yet to date, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and urk-menistan are not important business partners or urkey,despite their geographic proximity, energy riches, and otherresources. urkey’s relations with urkmenistan are in actdeteriorating, and its relations with Uzbekistan — whichwith a population o nearly 30 million is Central Asia’s mostimportant actor — are at their lowest level in many years.urkish-urkic integration clearly has a long way to go. Yetwe should not be surprised to see Ankara assigning height-ened importance to the larger urkic world in its emergingoreign policy as urkey gives up its ormer commitment tothe status quo or a more visible strategic activism.

1 In Izvestia, October 4th, 2011, Putin is quoted: “A crucial integration project, the Com-

mon Economic Space of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan (CES), will kick off on January

1, 2012. This project is, without exaggeration, a historic milestone for all three countries

and for the broader post-Soviet space… I am convinced that the establishment of the

Eurasian Union and efcient integration are approaches that will enable members to take

a prominent place in our complicated, 21st century world. Only by standing together will

all our countries be able to take their places as leaders of global growth and drivers of

progress, only together will they succeed and prosper.”

About the Author

Pro. Dr. Nadir Devlet teaches at the International Relations Depart-

ment o Istanbul Commerce University. He concentrates on 20th and

21st century political, social, cultural, economic situations, and security

issues or urkic peoples. He has also taught at Marmara (1984-

2001), Columbia (1989-1990), Wisconsin-Madison (1996-1997), and

Yeditepe (2001-2007) universities. He has more than 20 published

books in urkish, atar, and English as well as some 200 articles in

urkish, atar, English, and Russian.

About GMF

Te German Marshall Fund o the United States (GMF) is a non-par-

tisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated

to promoting better understanding and cooperation between North

America and Europe on transatlantic and global issues. GMF does this

by supporting individuals and institutions working in the transatlantic

sphere, by convening leaders and members o the policy and business

communities, by contributing research and analysis on transatlantic

topics, and by providing exchange opportunities to oster renewed

commitment to the transatlantic relationship. In addition, GMF

supports a number o initiatives to strengthen democracies. Founded

in 1972 through a gi rom Germany as a permanent memorial to

Marshall Plan assistance, GMF maintains a strong presence on both

sides o the Atlantic. In addition to its headquarters in Washington,

DC, GMF has seven ofces in Europe: Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade,Ankara, Bucharest, and Warsaw. GMF also has smaller representations

in Bratislava, urin, and Stockholm.

About the On Turkey Series

GMF’s On urkey is an ongoing series o analysis bries about urkey’s

current political situation and its uture. GMF provides regular analy-

sis bries by leading urkish, European, and American writers and

intellectuals, with a ocus on dispatches rom on-the-ground urkish

observers. o access the latest bries, please visit our web site at www.

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Documents

Taking Stock: Turkey and the Turkic World 20 Years Later