The fact that Sarajevo hosted the World Uyghur Congress might confuse only those unfamiliar with the true nature of this organization, who see it merely as a vague representation of the Uyghur people’s struggle for rights in China and abroad. They overlook two key points: first, that this congress is under the direct control of Turkish and Western intelligence services, and second, that its purpose is to destabilize China. Reuters explained the police escort assigned to congress members, along with other precautionary measures, as a response to pressure and threats.
CHINESE “SPIES”
Few were aware of the fact that the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress held a four-day conference in a Sarajevo hotel with several hundred delegates from 25 countries. There were no signs or posters, the hotel staff hesitated to give out information, plainclothes police were in the lobby, and special units were stationed outside the building. Organizers, through Reuters, informed that messages from social networks and emails were used to pressure the cancellation of the event.
“We saw Chinese people here at the hotel, taking pictures of our delegates during the events as a way to intimidate them,” said Zumreta Arkin, who was elected vice-president of the organization at the meeting. The Chinese Embassy in Sarajevo did not comment on the allegations about the conference, nor did the Bosnian authorities.
The reasonable question is: Why did the Uyghurs choose a remote and unfamiliar town on the Balkans for their central event? Was this their choice, or perhaps Turkey’s, and why?
THE MURDER LINKED TO KURDISH ORIGINS
In Western political circles, Turkey’s role has always been viewed in terms of its ability to block Russia from reaching the Mediterranean and to prevent the return of mythical Byzantium to the Bosphorus. Recently, the West’s calculations involving Turkey have included China, along with Turkey’s Uyghurs. The truth is, Turkey has never historically belonged to Europe, nor has it ever been a part of it. Culturally, religiously, ethnogenetically, and anthropologically, Turkey was and remains in Asia.
Turkey’s imitation of Western democracy began after significant economic growth under military rule in the early 1980s, when Turgut Özal introduced a series of liberal reforms that strengthened the state. However, he was of Kurdish origin, a fact that is not insignificant in analyzing his violent death.
AUTOPSY FINDINGS
The Turkish newspaper Zeman and Anadolu Agency confirmed in February 2020 that the autopsy results for the late President Turgut Özal indicated poisoning. There were already rumors circulating in Turkish public life that Özal, who according to official reports died of a heart attack in 1993 at the age of 65, was killed by militants from the “deep state” – a hidden nationalist structure within the Turkish establishment. Efforts to end the conflict with the Kurds had been accompanied by expressions of dissatisfaction, as well as an assassination attempt in 1988.
Sources from the state Forensic Medicine Institute told the Turkish daily that autopsy results revealed the presence of the banned insecticide “DDT” in his body, along with ingredients elevated tenfold above the normal level. “Özal was likely poisoned with four separate substances,” states the autopsy report.
ISLAMIST ALTERNATIVE TO KEMALIST DEMOCRACY
The consequence of this anti-state assassination was the further strengthening of Islamist parties. Islamists, from the manifesto Millî Görüş (National Vision) advocated by Necmettin Erbakan since 1969, accepted modernization but never the potential “Kurdish autonomy” or particularly Western secularism, which they viewed as measures of de-Islamization.
Through this process, Kemalist secular semi-democracy found its enduring, radical Islamist alternative in a semi-democratic form. From Erbakan’s National Order Party (MNP, 1970–1971) and the National Salvation Party (MSP, 1972–1981) to his Welfare Party (Refah, 1983–1998), which counted Erdoğan among its founders, and later through the Virtue Party (Fazilet, 1998–2001) to Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP, founded in 2001), nearly half a century has passed, marked by four major bans, with AKP being a reformed version of Erbakan’s political Islamism. The goal of AKP was publicly not to create an Islamic state under Sharia law but to fight for power and influence within the Kemalist national state.
SLOWLY AND CAUTIOUSLY TOWARDS BRICS
Erdoğan’s apparent moderation, his pro-American and pro-European stance, and support for market capitalism partially explain the restraint of military and judicial authorities towards AKP, as well as AKP’s and Erdoğan’s electoral successes in parliamentary, presidential, and local elections from 2002 to 2016.
As a child of Istanbul’s working-class neighborhoods, Erdoğan initiated a unique class advancement within the rigid Turkish administration. Until AKP’s rise, the political administration and military leadership were closed to the influence of the Islamist structure of Turkish society, while seemingly striving for democratization. In his early years in power, Erdoğan dissolved state security courts, reduced torture in investigations, and initiated negotiations with the Kurds. In these actions, Erdoğan, up until 2013, had the support of the Hizmet movement led by the now-deceased Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic teacher based in Pennsylvania.
Under such circumstances, a crucial question emerged: could “Turkish Islam” fit within the political framework of Western integration and the European Union, and could the Turkish state modernize and, in some way, “Europeanize”? The Western response was clear: it could not and never would. For this reason alone, Turkey has, albeit slowly and cautiously, taken steps towards BRICS. It seems like a good choice, but can Turkey truly align with BRICS while burdened by OTD?
WHAT IS OTD?
Little is known in the broader public about one of Turkey’s significant geopolitical tools – the Organization of Turkic States (OTD). It is an interregional organization operating under Turkey’s auspices, comprising Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. Turkmenistan, Hungary, and the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus hold observer status in the organization.
OTD promotes an appealing ideology based on the linguistic, cultural, and historical proximity of member states’ peoples. Although largely declarative (real “unity” among Turks has never existed), such ideas serve as tools of integration at the inter-state level. Despite the country’s severe economic situation, Turkey continues to expand its presence in Central Asian countries, offering them its weaponry and building its companies. Educational and humanitarian initiatives promoting the Turkish language and culture also add significance to OTD as an interregional association.
DE-CYRILLIZATION OF CENTRAL ASIA
Turkey’s push for the creation of a unified Turkic alphabet accelerates the marginalization of the Russian language as the medium for interethnic communication. Since the alphabet is based on the Latin script, its adoption further contributes to the “de-Cyrillization” of Central Asian languages, signaling a shift away from the Russian language—even if this alphabet is not officially adopted. This poses a significant alarm for Russia, which should reconsider its regional policy given the emergence of new players interested in geopolitical dominance. Turkey is offering Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan more than just an alphabet; it’s introducing a new identity—the “Turkic World.” How does Turkey aim to fulfill this ambitious strategic objective?
CONQUERING THROUGH LATINIZATION
The first step is creating a unified Turkic alphabet, agreed upon in September 2024. Envisioned as an alphabet with 34 Latin characters, it represents a compromise that Turks are proposing not as a new version of the alphabet but as one for diplomatic and academic use. Here, it’s important to note Kazakhstan’s accelerated transition to Latin script (which has been developing its own Latin alphabet since Nazarbayev’s time) and Kyrgyzstan’s potential transition, though it has not yet announced plans to abandon Cyrillic. Nevertheless, the need to use a so-called common Turkic alphabet will drive de-Cyrillization in these countries. Other OTD members from the former USSR—Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan—transitioned to the Latin script in the 1990s. The result is a reduced familiarity with Cyrillic among newer generations who have grown up with the Latin script. Meanwhile, the importance of the Turkish language in the region grows with such reforms.
THE MAP REVEALS ALL
The second initiative is the creation of a unified map of the Turkic World. The development of this map was discussed on October 1, 2024, at the first meeting of the heads of the OTD member countries’ cartographic agencies, organized by Turkey’s Ministry of Defense. In the future, creating a Turkic World map should speed up military integration, as cartography is essential for operational planning. It’s not yet known which specific areas will be included on this map. For instance, in 2021, Erdoğan’s associate Devlet Bahçeli (leader of the nationalist “Nationalist Movement Party”) presented him with a map of the Turkic World that, aside from OTD countries, included large territories of China, Russia, and other countries.
The final appearance of the new Turkic World map remains unknown, but textbooks on history, geography, and literature printed on this topic indicate that the project is seriously planned. These textbooks were developed from 2015 to 2022 within the framework of the activities of the International Turkic Academy (under the auspices of OTD, headquartered in Almaty). These works cover Turkic history up to the 15th century, literature written in Turkic languages, and similar topics. To date, they have not become part of mandatory educational programs but are implemented as elective courses. Scholars from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkey participated in their creation.
A CORRIDOR BYPASSING RUSSIA
Turkey’s political strategy is manifested through the coordinated activities of state structures that operate under OTD. Within OTD, the following organizations are active: the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-Speaking Countries, the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the International Organization of Turkic Culture, and the Turkish Academy. At the last summit in Shusha in July 2024, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed the establishment of the Council of Central Turkic Banks and the Pan-Turkic Patent Organization. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev suggested creating a Council of Railway Administrations and the Turkic Environmental Council based in Nukus. Essentially, OTD actively promotes the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (TMTK, Middle Corridor), connecting Europe and China while bypassing Russian territory. Most OTD countries serve as transit points within TMTK: containers travel from China to Kazakhstan, then across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, and onward by rail through Georgia and Turkey.
UYGHURS IN SYRIA? WHOSE IDEA WAS IT?
Now, after these rarely discussed insights into Turkey’s aspirations, let’s return to the initial question: Who instructed the Uyghurs to hold their conference in Sarajevo? The answer lies in going back to the early days of hybrid and military-political operations against the Syrian people and state. With the help of Turkey’s military intelligence agency MIT, a group of radical Uyghurs arrived from China to fight in Syria against local Arabs loyal to Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The distance (about 5,000 km) is not an obstacle for Erdoğan’s regime to act across various Turkic-speaking territories, former Ottoman lands, and it also does not hinder Uyghurs from journeying from distant Chinese provinces to Syria under the direction of the Turkish state and NATO. Initially, only men came, religiously radicalized, but today, entire families live in the Turkish-controlled Idlib area.
UYGHUR SEPARATISM—TURKISH MILITARISM
These Uyghur fighters belong to the organization “Eastern Movement,” founded in Afghanistan in 1993 by Hasan Masum Abu Muhammad Turkistani. The organization operates in China and, in 2014, announced the establishment of a Syrian branch as an offshoot of the main organization in Central Asia. The head of the Syrian branch is Abdul Haq Turkistani, with a military figure known as Abu Ibrahim. In 2016, this movement declared ISIS “illegitimate.” They have lost about 1,500 fighters, with dozens captured by the regime. They have never engaged in internal conflicts between opposition factions, nor are they known for conducting assassinations or setting up checkpoints.
Kyrgyz journalist and political analyst Uran Botobekov believes that Beijing was forced to make serious adjustments to its foreign policy objectives regarding the Middle East and to adapt them to the rise of “Uyghur separatism” and Turkish militarism built on the foundations of a new Ottoman political and religious identity and Erdoğan’s ambition for Turkey to finally become a global power. Little can be added to the Kyrgyz analyst’s observations…
