V Summit Of The Turkic Council: Common Information Space And Enhancing Multilateral Cooperation
The V Summit of the Turkic Council was held in Astana on September 11, 2015. The main topic of the Summit included the enhancement and the development of multilateral cooperation, particularly, in the field of “media and information” and other various fields.
Field of Media and Information: This field was the main focus of the Summit. The significance of the field stems from the importance to preserve the common identity, common concern, common culture and tradition in the contemporary world affected by globalization, and from the importance to develop a common perspective for current international events. Thus, all these issues were discussed during the 1st meeting of the “Ministers and High Ranked Officials Responsible for Information and Media” in Astana on August 18, 2015. Nowadays, it has become crucially important to assert a common attitude and a common view against the undesirable events that take place due to situations that cause instability, new threats and risks in the immediate environment of the Turkic Council countries. Accordingly, during the Summit it was confirmed that in the near future, a new TV channel, the “International Turkic News Channel,” would be established in order to form a common media and information space among the Turkic Council countries. Moreover, it was decided that further steps would be taken to create an authoritative center in order to introduce a strategy of the cultural and informational development of the Turkic Speaking Countries.
Fields of Security and Economy: It can be observed that the issues related to security and economic development of the Central Eurasian countries have been closely interlaced, especially, with previous issue, which was given priority during the Summit. Thus, taking over the presidency duties Kazakhstan has focused on these particular issues. In terms of security, Kazakhstan concentrates on maintaining stability in the neighboring regions in order to avoid overshadowing its economic achievements by possible instability events in the immediate environment of Kazakhstan. This is also a current threat for the other Turkic Council countries. Besides, diversification of their relations with other states, especially, in the fields of energy and transport, is greatly important for the Turkic Council countries (which gained their independence in the Post-Cold War period) in order to maintain their independence. In this regard, the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has made a suggestion to enlarge the transit capacity of the Caspian Sea. However, the suggestions of the Turkic Council countries to diversify the fields of energy and transport do not intend to eliminate the strong regional actors such as Russia and China. On the contrary, these suggestions aim to use a huge potential of these countries in the fields of energy and transport in favor of the Turkic Speaking Countries bringing both peace and stability to the Central Eurasia. Thus, the establishment of "The Coordination Committee on TransCaspian International Transport Corridor" and the arrangement of the first successful train service connecting Northwest China and Azerbaijan via Kazakhstan should be regarded as important efforts. In general, issues related to the cooperation of the Turkic Council countries in the fields of security and economy can be summarized as follows: 1) Taking joint actions against terrorism, puritanism and discrimination; 2) Contributing to the efforts on ensuring security and stability in the immediate environment; 3) Adopting a common attitude against threats and risks that result from international geopolitical and geoeconomic environment; 4) Increasing the transit corridor potential of the Caspian Sea; 5) Reinforcing the cooperation in trade and transport through the Silk Road and enhancing the “Intercontinental Eurasia Transport Corridor” to pass through the member countries; 6) Continuing the works on the establishment of “The Joint Turkic Investment Fund”; 7) Resolving the problems in Nagorno-Karabakh regarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in the region; 8) Activating the attempts to give the Turkic Council an observer status in the “United Nations” and the “Islamic Cooperation Organization.” Fields of Culture and Education: The International Turkic Academy has made a substantial contribution to the field of education by preparing “A Common Turkic History Textbook” which includes history of the region up until 15th centu-ry. The necessary steps are expected to be taken to add this textbook to the school syllabus of the Turkic Council countries. Moreover, The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, emphasized the necessity of enlarging the cooperation of the Turkic Speaking Countries in the fields of education and science, and suggested to convert the Akhmet Yassawi University into the first joint university of the Turkic World. Tightening the cooperation in this field will strengthen the common identity consciousness of the young generation. Activities in the fields of education and culture should be regarded as human capital investments in new generation of the Turkic Speaking Countries.
Corporate Cooperation Field: During Kazakhstan’s Presidency of the Turkic Council, the following activities are to be performed: 1) Taking the necessary steps to complete the corporate process of the International Turkic Academy, the Turkic Cultural Heritage Fund and the Center of Nomadic Civilizations as international organizations; 2) Continuing the coordination meetings among the Turkic Council, the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA) and the International Turkic Academy; 3) Continuing the works on “A Concept Document Regarding the Basic Principles of Integration in the Turkic World” prepared by the International Turkic Academy; 4) Continuing the dialogue among the Parliaments of the Turkic Speaking Countries and, in this regard, holding the 6th General Assembly of the TURKPA in Astana in December, 2015. P.S. The Turkic Council was established as an international organization on October 3, 2009 in accordance with the Nakhchivan Agreement. The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, suggested establishing the Council at the Summit of the Heads of Turkic Speaking Countries in 2006. The main purpose of the Council is to strengthen the cooperation among the member countries and contribute to regional and global stability. The VI Summit of the Turkic Council (with the focus on the issues of youth and sport) will be held in Kyrgyzstan.
95,000 troops, over 7,000 pieces of military equipment, up to 170 warplanes and 20 ships.
Politics, Foreign Affairs and Security A two-day Summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a security alliance of six former Soviet republics took place in Tajikistan’s capital city Dushanbe. The main agenda of the Summit was threats of terrorism and extremism. An agreement on military contingent and cargo transportation was signed as a result of the meeting. The CSTO members also decided to extend an agreement on the logistics and technical support of railways.
The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the President of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, signed a Joint Declaration on strategic partnership between the two countries. Moreover, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the agrarian sphere was signed between the agriculture ministries of Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic. The XII Interregional Cooperation Forum of Kazakhstan and Russia with the participation of presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Vladimir Putin was hosted in Sochi. During the Forum, the parties discussed further perspectives of bilateral cooperation in agriculture and food security.
The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, approved Ukraine’s sanction list that comprises 105 companies, including such Russian air carriers as Aeroflot, Transaero, Ural Airlines, S7 Airline, as well as Gazprombank, Bank of Moscow, and 388 people, including the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR & LPR).
The head of the self-proclaimed DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, has signed a decree to hold local elections on October 18, 2015.
Tajikistan’s State Security Committee and Interior Ministry confirmed that the anti-terrorist operation to eliminate the group under a former Deputy Minister of Defense, Abdukhalim Nazarzoda, had ended.
Russia's military exercise Center2015 was held in the Urals area and in the European part of the country. The drill involved about Economy, Finance and Energy According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of th Turkmenistan, the 13 meeting of the Coordination Committee on operation of the Turkmenistan Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China pipeline was hosted in Ashgabat.
The schedule for the transportation of natural gas and the work schedule for the fourth quarter of 2015 and 2016 were discussed at the meeting.
According to the draft Energy Strategy to 2035 prepared by the Russian Ministry of Energy, Russia has a potential to increase the oil exports by 1.8-2.2 times and the natural gas exports by 8-9 times to Asia-Pacific nations by 2035. Moreover, the production of shelf oil would be increased from the current 17 million tons to 50 million tons by 2035, including 33 million tons per year produced on the Arctic shelf.
According to the Uktransgaz, 15.3 billion cubic meters of gas is stored in underground storage facilities in Ukraine, 7.7 billion of which was injected in 2015, and the daily injection regimen is 38.7 million cubic meters. However, the level should be brought up to 1718 billion cubic meters of gas storage for comfortable winter season. According to the draft state budget for 2016-2018, oil production in Kazakhstan is expected to reach 77 million tons by 2016 and 92 million tons by 2020.
The subsidiary of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Rusatom Overseas, and Indonesian National Nuclear Energy Agency have signed a MoU on the construction of highpower and floating nuclear power plants in Indonesia.
The Minister of Finance of Ukraine, Natalie Jaresko, and the Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova of the World Bank, Qimiao Fan, have signed an agreement on a $500 million loan aimed at helping Ukraine develop its financial sector.
The Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank approved allocation of the loan worth $300 million to the government of Uzbekistan for completion of the program of modernization of the electricity accounting system in the Andijan, Ferghana, Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya and Namangan regions of the country. The Ministry of Investments and Development of Kazakhstan and the World Bank officially launched the Kazakhstan Energy Efficiency Project amounted at $21.76 million to improve the energy efficiency in public and social facilities and to create the enabling environment for sustainable energy efficiency financing. According to the forecast of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the economic growth in Uzbekistan will reach 6.8% in 2015. Moreover, the GDP of Uzbekistan will grow by 7% in 2016 and will increase by 6.5% each year in 2018-2020.
During the 59th meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference, members of the IAEA approved Turkmenistan’s accession to the organization.
Society and Culture The Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan launched an investigation into the drowning deaths of four young servicemen during a military exercise on the Caspian Sea. At present, four regional military officers have been already fired.
Russia and Brazil have signed a contract on the placement and operation of a measuring ground station for the Russian Glonass satellite navigation network in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul.
The Ministry of Emergency of Russia has dispatched the 38th humanitarian aid convoy consisting of more than 100 trucks that would deliver over 1,200 tons of humanitarian aid to Donbas.
Russia established the first refugee camp for 500 people in the central Syrian city of Hama.
The upper house of the Parliament of Kazakhstan has ratified the Agreement between the Government of Kazakhstan and the World Health Organization (WHO) on opening of the WHO Office on Primary Health Care in Almaty.
Prepared by Lidiya Parkhomchik, Hayal Ayca Simsek, Saule Akhmetkaliyeva, Aidarbek Amirbek.
