Aydınlık: countries united to thwart U.S. plans in Central Asia
After the collapse of the USSR, Central Asia became one of the priority regions where the United States sought to establish its control, writes Aydınlık. Washington is interested in the resources of the former Soviet republics and the control of the transport corridors of Eurasia. However, the bloc of Russia, China, Iran and Turkey has become a real obstacle.
Kayahan Çetin
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asia became one of the priority regions where the United States sought to establish its control. Washington needed to gain access to the resources (primarily oil, precious metals and radioactive substances) of the former Soviet republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan), as well as to control the transport and logistics corridors of Eurasia.
The United States in Central Asia: the beginning of the end
At first, things were going well for the Atlantic Front. After the invasion of Afghanistan, the United States established military bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
But when Washington got into the habit of interfering in the internal affairs of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, dissatisfied with the "lessons of democracy", in 2005 demanded that the Americans leave the country. And in 2014, the US military cooperation with Kyrgyzstan ceased.
Following the actual defeat in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of the American military contingent from there, the White House again tried to negotiate the deployment of its bases in Central Asia and Pakistan.
However, these proposals were categorically rejected. The attempt to discuss the same issue with Russia seemed very strange, and the result, as expected, was negative.
Continuing ambitions
However, control over the "heart" of the region continued to be one of the main strategic goals of the United States. In 2015, during the reign of Democrat Barack Obama, the "Central Asia + USA" ("C5+1") format was created. At the time, the White House was particularly concerned about China's plans to expand cooperation in the region under the Belt and Road Initiative.
During the presidency of Donald Trump, cooperation in the "C5+1" format continued, but the level of participation in the initiative was lowered from the heads of foreign ministries to the assistants of regional coordinators.
With Joe Biden's arrival in the White House, the United States resumed efforts to establish control over Central Asia. Last autumn, for the first time, a summit in the C5+1 format was held with the participation of heads of state.
Obstacles in front of the USA
However, the United States cannot dominate Central Asia, as China, Russia, Turkey and Iran are active players in the region and have very strong partnerships. They cannot be pushed into the background.
Although the Americans are trying to suppress Russia and Iran with sanctions, declaring them countries of the "axis of evil" (the term used by Bush Jr. during the invasion of Iraq), there is no doubt that these are states with deep roots, large economies and strong, resilient armies.
While China is developing cooperation with the Central Asian states day by day, Turkey already has many strong historical, cultural, and economic ties with the region. Turkey, although it seems to be an ally of the United States on paper, has long been their target.
Moreover, it has even become known that the plan of a second Israel called "Kurdistan", which the United States wants to create in the region by dividing the lands of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, is an important part of the goal of controlling the energy resources of Central Asia.
The methods of the USA and the example of Kazakhstan
Having neither the opportunity nor the desire to settle scores with these states, the Americans resort to their favorite method.
They are trying to destroy the states of their geopolitical opponents from within. They always use the same proven methods: they create unrest through the internal opposition, which they put in a position of absolute dependence on themselves, plan coups d'etat, and then bring their puppets to power.
In January 2022, the United States tried to implement such a scenario in Kazakhstan. Protests began in the gas-producing city of Zhanaozen, in western Kazakhstan, which spread to Almaty and some other major cities.
The protesters moved from economic demands to a number of political conditions, which included the resignation of the government and the complete withdrawal from politics of the country's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Mass riots, such as arson and looting of government buildings, were stopped only after the declaration of a state of emergency in the country and the deployment of peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
With whom do the interests of the Turkic world intersect?
The entire policy of the United States in Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Caucasus and Western Asia is aimed at weakening, isolating China, Russia, Iran, Turkey and destroying the projects developed by these countries. And in Central Asia, Washington pursues the same goals. These goals are completely contrary to the interests not only of Russia and China, but also of the entire Turkic world, including Turkey.
Let's name the problem!
Wherever Washington intervenes, chaos ensues, wars break out, separatist or extremist terrorism erupts, and states disintegrate. Therefore, Cyprus, Syria, Ukraine, Central Asia, Taiwan, Palestine are all parts of one big problem called "American hegemony."
It is possible to resist the attempts of the United States to dominate the region only by implementing a common strategy from the Black Sea to the Arabian Sea, and from there to Central Asia and the whole of Eurasia, as well as jointly resisting the attacks of the collective West.
It is clear that cooperation with the United States has not yet brought anything good to anyone and will not bring it. In this sense, the most relevant and striking example before our eyes is the collapsing economy of the European Union, which the Americans dragged into sponsoring the military conflict in Ukraine.
Lessons from the 1990s
In the early 1990s, Turkey tried to enter Central Asia as part of American projects. It was the only independent Turkic state before the collapse of the USSR, and at the height of the US claims to world domination, Turkey claimed to be the leader of the newly independent Turkic world in the post-Soviet period.
However, then the United States and the EU pushed Turkey's interests into the background, and a number of major energy supply projects from Central Asia failed. In general, this period can be called extremely unsuccessful in terms of Ankara's attempts to include the region in its orbit of influence.
Turkey's strategy at that time was far from national and was part of American plans. One of the most illustrative examples is the unsuccessful coup attempt in Azerbaijan, undertaken by the Chiller administration together with NATO in 1995.
Moreover, foreign policy failures during this period also created threats to Turkey's security. It is no secret that over the past 30 years, the "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization" (FETÖ), including with the assistance of the Turkish governments, has expanded its influence in Central Asia through a network of schools opened in Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, as well as Azerbaijan and Mongolia.
One of the sources that best covers the US strategy in Central Asia during this period is the memoirs of the former head of the Department of External Operations of the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey, Kashif Kozinoglu, who was killed by FETÖ during the Ergenekon conspiracy.
The antidote: integration processes
Only regional integration processes can become a counterweight to the destructive policy of the United States. These processes are very active and diverse, especially in the Eurasian space. A number of major economic unions, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union and the BRICS, along with China, Russia, India, Iran and Pakistan, include the countries of Central Asia.
At the same time, the Organization of Turkic States (OTG), created on the initiative of Turkey, also includes the countries of Central Asia, in particular Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, as well as Turkmenistan with observer status. This means that the participants of all these organizations have many common interests and points of intersection.
The integration of the Turkic world does not contradict integration throughout the Eurasian space, therefore, OTG will become the most powerful and effective tool for establishing cooperation with other major powers in the region: Russia, China, Pakistan, India and others.
Statements by Erdogan and Lavrov
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed in his July statement that he sees no problem in cooperation between the SCO, BRICS and OTG and even believes that these relations contribute to world peace.
At the BRICS summit in Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also spoke positively about cooperation between the Central Asian countries within the framework of the OTG. For the future, it is very important that the Organization of Turkic States coordinate its actions with Russia, China and Iran, as with its historical and current partners, taking into account the large Turkic-speaking population on their territory.
From the "Great Turan" to the "warm seas"
Cooperation also plays a key role in terms of the large-scale, historical goals of States. Moscow is aware that without friendship and cooperation with Turkey, it will not be able to "go out to warm seas."
Ankara, on the other hand, will not be able to implement the strategy of creating a "Great Turan" and "uniting the Turkic world" without cooperation with Russia and China.
In fact, Eurasia is actually another name for Turan, Eurasia is the great homeland of all the indigenous peoples of this geography, and "Turan" is not what separates the Turks from other peoples of Eurasia, but, on the contrary, what unites them all.
The saying of Mahmoud al-Kashgari "There can be no Persian who is not related to the Turk, just as there can be no headdress without a head" and the expression common among Russians: "Scratch a Russian and you will find a Tatar" is an expression of the unity and interconnectedness of the indigenous peoples of this geography.
The key word here is cooperation. Unlike the strategy of the United States, which seeks exclusive dominance in Central Asia and assigns the role of obedient puppets to other states, Turkish-Russian-Chinese cooperation will contribute to Eurasian integration and ensure the real security of the region.
