By the decision of August 5, 2022, the Government of Kazakhstan approved the protocol signed with Turkey on May 10 on cooperation in the field of military intelligence. Cooperation will be implemented in the following areas:
⦁ Exchange of military intelligence information and professional assessments on current topics
⦁ Monitoring of developments related to the regional military and political situation threatening the security of the participating countries
⦁ Exchange of information on international terrorist and other structures threatening the security of the parties
And on August 11, Reuters, referring to “three sources familiar with the matter”, reported that from September, Kazakhstan is going to supply part of its crude oil through Azerbaijan’s largest Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, bypassing Russia. For almost 20 years, Kazakh oil has been transported to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline, which has provided access to the world market.
In July, a Russian court threatened to shut down the Caspian Pipeline Consortium over environmental violations, forcing the Kazakh government and oil producers to sign contracts with other companies.An informed source said that the Kazakh state oil company “KazMunayGaz” is conducting preliminary negotiations with the Azerbaijani state SOCAR company to get a permit to sell about 1.5 million tons of oil per year through the Azerbaijani pipeline, through which it is delivered to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.The interviewer of the newspaper reported that the final contract should be signed at the end of August. Flows through the Batu-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline will start in a month.
Turkey, especially taking advantage of the “isolation” of Central Asia from Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian war, actively cooperates with Central Asian Turkic states, especially Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, in an attempt to realize its long-standing pan-Turan or pan-Turkic aspirations. Moreover, Turkey’s presence in this region is manifested through both hard and soft power. Cooperation between CSTO member Kazakhstan and NATO member Turkey in the field of military intelligence exchange is an unprecedented phenomenon.
In order to strengthen its position in Central Asia, in order to analyze the existing challenges, Turkey needs to be aware of all regional developments.And Kazakhstan is trying to find new guarantees for its security under the weakening of the CSTO, as evidenced by the agreement reached during the visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Turkey in May regarding the production of Turkish ANKA UAVs in Kazakhstan, which takes the military cooperation between the two countries to a completely different level.
It is necessary to remember that one of the main obstacles in the way of Turkish expansionism in Central Asia is Armenia. It is no coincidence that the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is going on parallel to these processes. In this way, the last obstacle of pan-Turkism in this region, in the face of the Armenian factor, is pushed out. In addition, official Ankara supports the Armenian-Azerbaijani reconciliation and makes speeches about the need to open the so-called “Zangezur Corridor”, because it is the latter that will become the key to the gate leading to the Turkic world.
UPDATE: On August 13, the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan, Bolat Akchulakov, during a press conference, denied the rumors about the transportation of oil through the territory of Azerbaijan. He noted that currently the main problem is to maintain the volumes of pipeline construction through the “Caspian Pipeline Consortium”.
Click to view the article in Armenian
