Expanding military cooperation within the framework of the Organization of Turkish States (OTS), whose members include Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, is not in China's interest. Russian political scientist, expert on the post-Soviet space, Bogdan Bezpalko stated this in a conversation with Lenta.ru.
According to him, the ultimate goal of Ankara's cooperation with former Soviet countries in the field of defense is to establish a new military bloc in Central Asia and Transcaucasia. According to the political scientist, Russia will protest this turn of events, but the country does not have many tools to prevent this.
“But we must remember that Central Asia is a sphere of influence not only for Russia but also for China. China is unlikely to want to see a Turkish military alliance there,” Bezpalko noted.
In early October, the UTC summit took place in Azerbaijan. During the plenary session, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced a plan to expand cooperation between Turkish countries in the fields of security and defense. Baku's initiative was supported by other summit participants.