Alwaght- Along with boost to diplomatic relations between the Israeli regime and Turkey, Tel Aviv officials try to expand their ties with Ankara to all levels. In recent days, the Israeli broadcaster i24 in a report written by two Israeli experts about the future of some ethnic groups that they claim to have been discriminated against talked about the Israeli new plans to address ethnic issues in Caucasus. The Israeli news channel wrote on its website that “shift toward the Turkic world option unlocks advantageous opportunities for Israel, from security to economy.”
Since Russian invasion of Ukraine, continues i24 report, the world has witnessed major geopolitical transformations with new alliances being formed — one of which is the neglected factions of post-Soviet countries with Turkic peoples.
The Turkic community— a large multi-ethnic group that inhabits areas from China to the Balkans— has always been spread out far and wide, with nearly 80 million in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.
“Never before, not even during the days of the Ottoman Empire, have they formed a lasting bloc,” the report said of the Turkic people.
The former Soviet republics are seeking to revive their ethnic and national identity, and the formation of an organization consisting of Turkic people can realize their dream.
Erdogan's dream still stands
The Turkic world option that is now propagated by the Israelis is a continuation to a plan designed by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a decade ago to establish a modern version of Ottoman Empire. Erdogan is trying to take the leadership of a Turkic world and strengthen Turkey's position in the region and the world by uniting the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia and Azerbaijan. In the past years, by strengthening Turkey's relations with these countries, Erdogan initiated the process to establish a Turkic world, and some Turkish officials have even shared a map of this world, which extends from Turkey to Kazakhstan.
Erdogan has been trying to pose as the leader of the region and especially of the Turkic-speaking countries in order to persuade the leaders of other countries to follow his ambitious plans. The noticeable increase in the visits of Turkish officials, especially Erdogan, to the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia is a sign of Ankara's interest in strengthening relations with these republics in the region in order to prepare the conditions for the implementation of the Turkic world project.
The efforts to make the Turkic bloc were pursued more seriously after Ukraine war, with the Turkish president ramping up his diplomatic movement to secure a position in a fast-changing world. He is especially counting on the Turkic countries to this aim. The Organization of Turkic States held its first summit on Thursday and Friday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The organization's main goal is to expand comprehensive cooperation between member countries. Currently, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan are members of this organization, and Hungary and Turkmenistan are also observers members. Turkey is trying to gather all the Turkic countries around itself and, on the strength of leadership of this organization, have a say in the future multi-polar system.
Separate from the Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan territorially, Turkey in recent years devised plans to establish territorial bonds to them. After 2020 Karabakh war, which led to Azerbaijan taking back its territory from Armenia, Erdogan by supporting Azerbaijan has pushed to implement Zangezur Corridor project that links Azerbaijan's territories to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. In addition to linking two sides of Caspian Sea, this corridor links Turkey to Azerbaijan and Central Asia. This corridor, known as Turani Corridor, is part of a plan to revive Erdogan-eyed Ottoman Empire.
The economic weakness and political instability of these countries is the best opportunity for Ankara to attract these republics with its aids. Having in mind that Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan have rich oil and gas resources, they are important to Turkey, and this country can meet its energy needs through its allies at lower prices, and by increasing the construction of energy transit lines, Turkey will become a regional energy transit highway.
The establishment of such a bloc and a regional alliance consisting of Turkic-speaking countries will pose threats to Iran's territorial integrity, because Turkey and Azerbaijan consider the Azeri regions of Iran to be a part of this world and have always implied this issue in their speeches and have a kind of greed for these regions. Therefore, if such a regional organization is established, measures may be taken to the provoke Azeri ethnic groups in Iran. Tehran officials has repeatedly warned against foreign movements to fuel separatism on its northwestern borders, and since the goal of the Organization of Turkic States is to gather all the Turks of the world under the Turkish flag, importing the Turkic regions of Iran into the Turkic world is also on the agenda. In a map designed by the Turkish officials, Iran's Azerbaijan provinces are part of the Turkic world plan.
Turkic world’s interests for Israel
A Turkic bloc is of great importance to the Israeli regime because it changes the entire balance of power in Eurasia and opens up beneficial opportunities in many areas. According to the Israelis, the Turkic republics of the former Soviet Union are less prone to anti-Semitism than other Muslim regions and do not have strong positions against Tel Aviv, and the way to infiltrate them is easier than Arab countries.
Given the fact that Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the Central Asian republics have good relations with the Israeli regime, the establishment of the Turkic world organization will cause the Israelis to have more influence in these countries. Leading this organization, Baku and Ankara can play an important role in improving Tel Aviv's relations with other member states. According to Israeli experts, if Baku succeeds in reconciling Ankara and Tel Aviv, it will be easy to develop relations with the Turkic countries of Central Asia as a big market for advanced Israeli technologies, which are welcomed with open arms as an opportunity to enhance the local industries and economies.
From another aspect, three members of this regional share borders with Iran and this is a special privilege for the Israelis who by establishing their presence around Iran seek to watch closely the movements of their archenemy. Concerning the advantages of establishing a Turkic world organization for Israel, Israeli experts claim that this issue is at a time when Tel Aviv has good relations with the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, and with a joint effort by the Arab monarchies headed by Saudi Arabia and the Turkic world, Iran will almost be surrounded from two fronts. This, they think, will limit the Islamic Republic’s influence in the region as a united front will be formed against Tehran. Also, the Turkic bloc is aimed to cover the north and northwest of Iran, and the Persian Gulf countries cover the southwest. According to Israeli analysts, behind all the opponents of Iran stands Tel Aviv, which currently provides many of Tehran's enemies with advanced technologies.
The Israelis are having their eyes on the Azeri-speaking regions of Iran and think that with establishment of the Turkic bloc, the 20 million Turks of Iran will be provoked to join the bloc, and thus Iran's power would be dealt a big blow.
The Israelis are advocating the Turkic world idea while themselves have been struggling to realize their dream of a Jewish state for 74 years. With anti-Iranian plans having failed in the past, this project will fail, too, and the Turkish push for a modern Ottoman Empire will meet its failure. On the other hand, the Israeli normalization with Arab monarchies will not protect the security of the occupied territories. In other words, the Israeli hope about viability of such regional blocs against the growing Iranian power would turn into despair.
