President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 15 that growing regional crises have underscored the strategic importance of solidarity among Turkic nations, as he attended a summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Kazakhstan.
“We must strengthen our consultation mechanisms and coordination in the face of geopolitical challenges... The increasing contacts between us and our ministers confirm that Turkic states have now acquired high-level reflexes in the face of common issues,” Erdoğan said at the summit in the city of Turkistan.
The president said crises in neighboring regions had “once again demonstrated the strategic value of solidarity within the Turkic world.”
“To have a greater say and influence in the world of the future, we must maximize our cooperation, especially in technology,” he said, welcoming the summit’s focus on artificial intelligence and digital development.
Erdoğan repeatedly stressed the importance of expanding cooperation in cybersecurity, defense industries and advanced technologies, warning of emerging risks linked to artificial intelligence.
“We must be vigilant against the new risk areas brought about by artificial intelligence technologies,” he said. “New generation threats to our data banks and critical national infrastructures are dimensions of digital transformation that need to be carefully managed.”
He described cybersecurity as “vital and essential” alongside conventional security domains such as land, air and sea, and said Türkiye would seek to advance coordination within the organization during its next term as chair.
Erdoğan also proposed that defense industry meetings among member states be held on a regular basis.
The summit brought together Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, as well as OTS Secretary-General Kubanychbek Omuraliyev.
The leaders also participated in a cultural tour program in Turkistan. On the sidelines of the summit, Erdoğan held a bilateral meeting with Mirziyoyev.
On May 14, Erdoğan and Tokayev chaired the sixth meeting of the high-level strategic cooperation council between Türkiye and Kazakhstan before overseeing the signing of agreements in several fields.
“Turkish-Kazakh relations continue to progress in all areas within the framework of an enhanced strategic partnership. In my meeting with my esteemed brother, we had a fruitful exchange of views on many issues, from trade to energy, from defense industry cooperation to transportation and global issues,” Erdoğan said in televised remarks.
“We wish to transport more oil from Kazakhstan, one of the world’s leading crude oil exporters, to world markets through our country,” he added.
During the visit, Erdoğan was awarded the Ahmet Yesevi Special State Order by Tokayev.
Accompanying Erdoğan on the trip were first lady Emine Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Education Minister Yusuf Tekin, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır.
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy chair Kürşad Zorlu, Communications Director Burhanettin Duran and Erdoğan’s chief foreign policy adviser Akif Çağatay Kılıç were also part of the delegation.
