“Hungary has become a special trusted partner of the Turkish world in the European region”
– What has the past year in TÁSZ meant for our country?
– Hungary has been in observer status in the Organization of Turkic States for four years, which gave the opportunity for the Hungarian governmental and economic circles to get to know this world better. Our exports and imports have increased, perhaps not as much as we would have liked, but this can be explained by the fact that transport capacities are tight. However, it is a matter of fact that Hungary has become a trusted partner of the Turkish states in the European region, behind which there are real political and serious foreign trade aspirations from all sides. The whole of the Turkic world – especially Central Asia – needs a new innovative economy, the construction of a modern society, and for this they are looking for partners. Not only us, but others too. Interestingly, the role of France in particular has increased in recent years in this region.
However, we Hungarians are considered not only partners, but also relatives, due to the specific Hungarian past that is well known in this region. Even those Turkish people came to the West and there they consider us to be proper, simple remaining, successful relatives.
– How are we connected to the Turkic peoples?
– The foundations of the Hungarian language are Finno-Ugric, every linguist knows this, but our language was influenced by different languages in such a way that they leave traces in our vocabulary and linguistic thinking to this day. The culture, social organization and economic thinking of the occupying Hungarians were the same as the steppe, Central Asian world, from which we were children.
However, from the time of Saint Stephen, from Christmas 1000 – when the coronation took place – we started a new life and integrated into the system of Carolingian traditions, thus becoming a Western people with Eastern roots.
– This year, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus received observer status. The country is officially recognized as an independent state only by the Turkish leadership, the status indicates that the circle of those who recognize the country?
– There was a very serious discussion among the observers of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, in which Hungary had no say, because we are in observer status. At the summit, the basic document of the Organization of Turkic States, the 2009 Treaty of Nakhchivan, was amended, according to which entities and ethnic communities are also observers. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is present as an entity among the observers, but this will only be fully legal if the Nakhchivan Treaty is ratified in each of their respective parliaments. That didn’t happen now. For now, only Turkey recognizes the statehood of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but the other members do not. But of course, all Turkish states consider the Turkish community of Northern Cyprus as part of the universal Turkish world. The Greek Foreign Minister recently personally informed the Kazakh leadership about all this, including President Kashim-Zomart Tokayev himself.
– Turkey’s role is growing more and more in the Central Asian region, especially when China is needed for the Pacific region and Russia for Ukraine. Is Ankara trying to take advantage of the current situation to become a leading power in the region?
– In the last two decades, Turkey has pursued a pragmatic but Turkish-based foreign policy. Ankara does not seek influence, but focuses on developing and expanding relations. Mainly the Russo-Ukrainian war brought about the fact that the exit of the Central Asian region to the world sea became Turkey, because all the northern transport routes through which Central Asia and even China were connected to Europe were closed and they will certainly not be used for years. they will recover.
As a result, the traffic on the Trans-Caucasus-Eureka route, which is currently the most important transport intersection between Central Asia and Europe, has increased.
In recent years, very serious port developments have taken place in the Caspian Sea region. The Kazakhs built the ports of Aktau and Atirau in an exemplary manner, which have close transport links with the port of Alat, south of the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, which is one of the most modern ports in the world. And Alat has a railway connection with the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, from where certain shipments go to Poti on the coast, but this port is in need of significant improvements. For this reason, most of the goods are transported by rail, on the Georgian-Turkish border – Kars is the Turkish entry gate – but here it is a serious problem that, while the Azeri and Georgian railway lines are broad gauge, the Turkish system is it follows a European pattern and has a narrow gauge. As a result, transshipment is an extremely complicated and lengthy task. Thus, despite the fact that the transport capacities of the Caspian Sea have increased in vain, the East-West trade relations system is stumbling due to the scarcity of the transshipment cross-section.