On September 28, Astana hosted the 9th Meeting of official centers for foreign policy research of member and observer countries of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) on “Cooperation of Turkic States: Building Bridges and Dialogue in a Turbulent World”, organized by the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country.

The OTS Secretary General, deputies of the Majlis of the Republic of Kazakhstan, heads and experts of leading analytical centers of member countries and observers of the OTS, as well as professors, teachers, and students of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, took part in its work.

According to the ISRS, at the event, views were exchanged on current issues of cooperation development within the OTS framework. Particular emphasis was placed on strengthening multilateral ties in trade, transport, industrial cooperation, science, innovation, and digital development.

Speaking at the plenary session on “Cooperation of Turkic countries in an era of mistrust: analysis of the regional model”, ISRS First Deputy Director Akramjon Nematov noted the importance of a thorough dialogue between think tanks.

According to the expert, this is especially necessary today when, due to the aggravation of geopolitical confrontation, the norms and principles of international law are ignored, and the role of global security institutions is weakened, which leads to a decrease in trust and increased unpredictability in the system of international relations, resuscitation and the emergence of new conflict centers.

“This, in turn, destabilizes world markets, provokes disruption of production and logistics chains, and an outflow of investment from developing countries. The world is just entering an acute phase of transforming the international order, which will be protracted”, Akramjon Nematov noted.

In these conditions, he emphasized the need to use the entire potential of multilateral cooperation within the framework of the OTS to ensure the stability of the Organization’s countries in the face of internal and external challenges to peace and security.

According to Akramjon Nematov, in 2017-2022, OTS member countries invested about $4 billion in the economy of Uzbekistan. This is 8% of the total volume of foreign investment for the specified period.

Akramjon Nematov emphasized that Uzbekistan prioritizes strengthening the trade and economic partnership within the framework of the OTS.

“Of the 70 events that we held from November last year to this day within the framework of our chairmanship, 40 events were related to the economy, transport and logistics”, he stated.

According to the expert, the recent escalating conflicts in different parts of the planet also impact the general security of the Turkic world.

“In such a difficult situation, our law enforcement agencies must be in constant contact and strengthen interaction in the fight against terrorism, extremism, the radicalization of youth, human trafficking, and drug trafficking, in ensuring public and cyber security”, Akramjon Nematov said.

In his opinion, for the development of cooperation in the above areas, a confidential dialogue between the Secretaries of the Security Council can play a system-forming role. In this regard, the second meeting of the Secretaries of the Security Council of the OTS, upcoming in Tashkent in October this year, will become a reliable platform for coordination and interaction on the entire range of security issues.

UzA