The Turkic states are located in a strategically important region and, taking into account their economic potential and geographic position, they can make a significant contribution to the development of humanity, Turkey’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Ismail Alper Coskun said.
“It is necessary to take steps for the integration of the Turkic world into the international community,” the ambassador said, stressing that, on the one hand, this will promote the development of infrastructure, and on the other hand, it will popularize the history of the Turkic world and strengthen political ties.
“Aside from that, it is also important to pay serious attention to stability and security issues,” he noted, adding that for the unity of the Turkic world one should start from issues of stability and security.
“In other words, the security forces of the Turkic-world countries interested in stability and security should start a dialogue among themselves,” Coskun said.
“The joint military exercises of the two countries held in Azerbaijan in 2014 and in Turkey in 2015 can serve as the best example of this,” he said, adding that holding such joint events is of great importance for stability in the region.
The ambassador said that neither Turkey, nor Turkic-speaking countries would become hardened before the threats in the region, since there are certain risks and issues that need solutions.
The rapprochement of the Turkic-world countries will serve the interests of each of them, the diplomat claimed.
“Regardless of the existence or lack of a unified army of the Turkic world, its countries are business partners. Not only the countries of the Turkic world, but also other countries can join this partnership as observers,” the ambassador said.
Although at various times some representatives of political and scientific circles have talked about the need to create a unified army of the Turkic world, no steps at the state level have been taken in this regard. According to the ambassador, a unified army means an army controlled from a single center.
The diplomat noted that the main difficulty for the Turkic-speaking countries is the centralized control of this army, consisting of various types of troops, units and formations from a single center.
"NATO can serve as an example in this regard. Sometimes, from an outside viewpoint, it seems that the member states of NATO have a unified army.
However, in reality, it is not so. If it is necessary to carry out any operation within NATO, the organization’s council makes a decision on unifying the armed forces of the member states and this requires time. The opportunities of all member states are taken into account for carrying out any operation within NATO,” Ismail Alper Coskun noted.
