Samarkand, Uzbekistan-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called on post-Soviet countries in resource-rich Central Asia to ramp up ties with Ankara as he sought to take advantage of a weakening Moscow bogged down in Ukraine.
“We are going through a fragile period that poses risks as well as opportunities to our countries,” Erdogan told a meeting of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) summit in Uzbekistan’s ancient city of Samarkand. “We see that it is critical more than ever for us to strengthen the cooperation, solidarity and harmony among us during this period,” the Turkish leader said during his third trip to the region in two months.
Analysts say Ankara is determined to gain a foothold in a region that the Kremlin has traditionally considered its sphere of influence as Moscow is mired in the protracted war in Ukraine.
Erdogan has for years been pushing for closer cultural, linguistic and religious ties with ex-Soviet countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 spooked Moscow’s neighbours in Central Asia and spurred Kazakhstan -- the region’s largest country -- and Uzbekistan, the most populous, to look for alliances elsewhere: both with China and Europe.