Hungarian FM: Turkic Council is “forum of peace”
Hungary sees the Turkic Council as a “forum of peace”, where all members stand for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine, in opposition to the “escalation rhetoric” prevalent in international politics, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told the foreign ministers’ meeting in Samarkand on Thursday.
At the Turkic Council, the common aim is an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, he said.
Turkey has so far been the only successful mediator between Ukraine and Russia, and the agreement on relaunching crop deliveries showed that “steps towards peace are possible even in seemingly hopeless situations,” the ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying.
The council stands for cooperation between East and West, and as such, is key to global security, he said.
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Szijjártó noted that Hungary, an observer in the Council alongside Turkmenistan, is eager to amp up its role in the group. The government has opened embassies in all six member states, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, he added.
Hungary is also offering a total of 990 grants for students from the six Council participants wishing to study there, he added.
Trade turnover between Hungary and the six Turkic Council states has grown two-and-a-half-fold in the past 12 years to 4.5 billion euros, he said.
The Hungarian foreign ministry and the Turkic Council have signed an agreement on setting up an Institute for Drought Prevention in Budapest.
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Source: MTI
Funny that – Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), an alliance uniting six post-Soviet states: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. It provides “collective protection in case of menace to safety, stability, territorial integrity, and sovereignty” of the member states.
Armenia just found out this alliance does not work too well in practice – https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2022/10/26/parliament-speaker/2747689
Uzbekistan is the wild card – bordering Kazakhstan with which it shares the ecologically stricken Aral Sea (look this up if you like horror stories a.k.a. Aralkum Desert) and Tajikistan. It is NOT part of CSTO (it used to be – but opted out due to “Russian dominance”) and has a fast-growing population (but with water running out – Aral Sea becoming a desert and 20 percent reliant on cotton which needs LOTS of water).
They will be the one to watch in the coming years – especially if Russia is unable to step up militarily as the leading CSTO member (if and when things go South in Ukraine)