Author: Raffi Khondkarian

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday called on Turkic Council members to act together in tackling global issues including terrorism, climate change, xenophobia and Islamophobia.

The 8th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) was held on an island southeast of Istanbul. The meeting held under the theme "Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age" was hosted by President Erdoğan.

During the meeting, the organization's name has been changed to the Organization of Turkic States.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the summit held on Democracy and Freedom Island in the Marmara Sea. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also participated as an observer. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov also attended on behalf of Turkmenistan, which participated in the summit for the first time as an observer member.

In his opening speech, Erdoğan said: "We are determined to continue our fight against all forms of terrorism. We must increase our cooperation in this regard," mentioning the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian affiliate known as the YPG, Daesh and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

He also underlined the importance of carrying out joint projects for green development. On natural disasters, he proposed the establishment of the “Organization of Turkish States Civil Protection Mechanism” for the members to coordinate efforts.

Regarding climate change, Erdoğan underlined that Turkey will exert great efforts to develop multilateral cooperation on this global issue during its term in the presidency of the organization.

"We must act together in the fight against destructive currents such as Islamophobia and xenophobia, which are the plague of our time," he also added.

Erdoğan, meanwhile said some 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccines were donated to African countries by Organization of Turkic States, with 2 million of them donated by Turkey only.

Turkey hopes to see the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) among the members of the Turkic Council, the Turkish president also said.

"I trust in your valuable support in easing the isolation and embargo against Turkish Cypriots, who are an inseparable part of the Turkic World," he told the council members.

Speaking after the Turkish president, Aliyev said that Erdoğan showed Baku that it is not alone in the world and that Ankara will always stand by it, referring to last year's Karabakh conflict in which Turkey threw its support behind Azerbaijan, whose Nagorno-Karabakh region had remained under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades before finally being liberated last November.

During a 44-day conflict last year, which ended in a truce on Nov. 10, 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages in Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia's illegal occupation. On Nov. 10, the two countries signed a Russia-brokered deal to end fighting and work toward a comprehensive solution.

Erdoğan has frequently called for a six-nation platform comprising of Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, saying it would be a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus. Turkey believes that permanent peace is possible through mutual security-based cooperation among the states and people of the South Caucasus region.

"Today we have a common vision among the countries of the Turkic world. This common vision needs to be built on a solid foundation," Aliyev added.

Important decisions on the functioning and future of the organization, including the changing of its name to the Organization of the Turkic States and the adoption of a "Vision Document" for the next two decades, are expected to be made at the summit.

Ways to further develop cooperation among the friendly countries in every field will also be discussed at the summit, during which Turkey will assume the presidency of the organization from Azerbaijan.

Erdoğan will also hold bilateral talks with his counterparts on the sidelines of the summit.

The Turkic Council was formed in 2009 to promote cooperation among Turkic-speaking states. It consists of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan as member countries and Hungary as an observer state.

Earlier in the day before the summit began, Erdoğan alongside the leaders of the Turkic Council member countries and Turkic Council Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev, officially opened the council's general secretariat building in the Sultanahmet neighborhood of Istanbul's Fatih district.

Azerbaijani flags on the Goris-Kapan highway

As the Armenian government’s cavalier attitude toward the establishment of customs checkpoints by Azerbaijan on the Goris-Kapan Highway continued, Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan warned Friday that Baku is pursuing a targeted policy of isolating civilian residential communities in Armenia, causing humanitarian concerns.

“It is evident that the Azerbaijani authorities are well aware that the blockade of the Goris-Kapan road or the so-called Azerbaijani border and customs checkpoints will cause violations of the rights of the civilian population and severe humanitarian issues, including the isolation of a number of civilian communities, which they are taking these deliberate steps to expand them,” Tatoyan said.

Communication and travel between towns and cities in the Syunik Province has become significantly more difficult, Tatoyan explained after a fact-finding mission from the Human Rights Defender’s Office outlined its findings.

Armenian government officials on Friday said that the alternate route for travel, the construction of which was completed recently, were safe for travel. The Human Rights Defender’s Office, however, reported significant difficulties and access for residents of Goris, Vorotan, Shurnukh and Bardzravan.

In an interview with Armenia’s Public Television, Armenia’s National Security Chief Armen Grigoryan gave assurances that Armenia villages would not be isolated as a result of the checkpoints, keeping silent about the fact that not only a number of villages in fact have been isolated, but their residents are forced to co-exist with Azerbaijani armed forces, who are within arm’s reach.  

Tatoyan revealed that the Tatev-Kapan road in the Syunik Province has been significantly obstructed, disrupting the free and safe movement of impeding the people’s ability to earn a living by, for example, selling agricultural products. He said there have been restrictions on the fast and efficient access to food, basic necessities, and medical care and other services in these areas.

“Masked and armed Azerbaijani servicemen continue to monitor the Goris-Kapan road, which in itself is a violation of the right to life and a real threat to security,” Tatoyan warned.

The fact finding mission of the Human Rights Defender’s Office observed that local government structures and officials are attempting their utmost to circumvent the obstacles created by the checkpoints, specifically impacting children, the elderly and those with special needs.

Tatoyan’s posted a short video (see below) detailing some of the challenges facing the civilian population that rely on the now-blockaded roads for their every-day life.

“Finding a solution to these issue is further complicated by the difficulty to pass through the alternative road (that goes through the Khot village in Tegh), which in certain areas can become impassable due to weather conditions, which may become further restricted as winter approaches,” said Tatoyan.

Parents, teachers and students were caught off guard Friday morning as they found out about the closure of the roads that lead to their schools.

Tatoyan’s office said that four out of nine teachers in the Bardzravan school are from Goris, while another travels from Kapan to the school, forcing the teachers to switch to online learning as the educators could not reach the school. Of the 44 students enrolled in the Vorotan school, three have special needs, with another three special needs students enrolled in the Vorotan elementary school. Of the 19 teachers in the schools, 14 live in Goris, who cannot travel to their jobs. A similar situation exists in the school in Shurnukh.

Tatoyan said that the road closures, coupled with the impassability of the alternate road, the free movement of the residents has become restricted. This, he said, could create acute humanitarian crisis in the area.

The Human Rights Defender said that the isolation of civilians stems from Baku ongoing policy of Armenophobia.

Traffic on the Goris-Kapan Highway in September

Despite assurances by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that his government opposes the creation of a so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” Armenia’s National Security Chief Armen Grigoryan said Yerevan and Baku were discussing the possibility of having a road that would link Azerbaijan proper to Nakhichevan.

This announcement was made while President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, once again, touted his plan to create a “Zangezur Corridor,” when speaking at the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States being held in Istanbul.

Grigoryan said in an interview with Armenia’s Public Television channel that a working group comprised of the deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia is exploring ways to create a route to Nakhichevan through Armenia.

Armenia’s National Security Chief said that if Azerbaijan wants to have a road only to Nakhichevan, it would be expedient to use the Khndzoresk-Bichenek section of the highway.

“In return, we will receive the Khndzoresk-Horadiz section [of the road]. But these  issues are still under discussion. We are not talking about a corridor, but about providing a road,” Grigoryan said.

This statement comes a day after Azerbaijan informed Armenia that it would begin operating customs checkpoints on 13-mile stretch of the Goris-Kapan Highway. Pashinyan on Thursday told his cabinet that Baku’s actions stem from Yerevan’s opposition to the “Zangezur Corridor,” the creation of which he said was out of the question for his government.

Aliyev, in turn, told the Council of Turkic Speaking States that Azerbaijan’s victory in the war brought with it the development of regional communications and transportation links, saying that the opening of the “Zangezur Corridor” was a cornerstone of that plan.

“This [the corridor] will create vast opportunities for the entire region. The corridor has great potential and will unite all the countries in the Turkic world, connecting us to Europe,” Aliyev announced.

According to the ArmInfo news site, Grigoryan did not explain how a 13-mile stretch of road within Armenia’s sovereign territory was transferred to Azerbaijan, without the completion of the process to demarcate and delimit the borders.

When Azerbaijani forces began blocking the Goris-Kapan Highway in late August, Pashinyan announced that he had surrendered that 13-mile stretch to Azerbaijan in December. Last week, Pashinyan explained that he had given the order to pull back troops from the area in order to avoid military escalation on the border.

Grigoryan told Armenia’s Public Television that there are alternative roads to the Goris-Kapan Highway.