The evolution of the doctrine of panturkism and its political significance for Тurkey’s geo-strategy

Abstract

Modern processes of globalization in the world, on the one hand, are characterized by intense integrative processes in countries across the globe, which contribute to forming economic unions and developing supranational institutions. On the other hand, there is a rising national self-awareness and a growing role of the ethnic factor in the socio-political development of countries. Ethnic communities, as political subjects, simultaneously have an impact on both domestic and international processes. The study of pan-Turkism is currently of considerable scientific interest due to a new stage in developing the doctrine of unifying all Turkic peoples, and the doctrine’s influence on Turkey’s geopolitics.
Pan-Turkism is a challenge for many countries, as its use is likely to aggravate ethnopolitical relations and feed the centripetal forces of the Turkic-speaking population in multiple countries. The article examines evolution stages of pan-Turkism doctrine in historical retrospect.
It was determined that pan-Turkism today acts as: 1) a multifaceted program of systemic integration of the Republic of Turkey and Turkic-speaking countries in the field of language, culture and education based on the Turkish alphabet, linguistics, history, literature and culture; 2) maximum pragmatism for Turkey’s economy and energy, gaining access to raw resources of friendly Azerbaijan and the Central Asian republics; 3) Ankara’s active diplomatic activity to ensure the interests of friendly Turkic-speaking countries (including the CIS countries) in relations with the West, as well as in the event of conflict situations (for example, during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict), as well as promoting Islamic consolidation; 4) formation of integrated various all-Turkic state and non-state institutions
for the purpose of partnership and international cooperation.