China cooperation priority for Kazakhstan with Pan-Turkism fears unfounded: envoy
South China Morning Post
4 min read
Concerns that the upgraded Turkic Council could lead to a rise in pan-Turkism in Central Asia which could spill into neighbouring countries, including China, are "unfounded and not necessary", according to Kazakhstan's ambassador in Beijing.
Gabit Koishibayev dismissed claims the grouping - renamed the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) at its November summit in Istanbul - was seeking to influence other countries.
Observers in Beijing have warned the OTS could lead to a revival of pan-Turkism in Central Asia and potentially undermine China's policy in Xinjiang, its far western region where controversial security measures over Turkic minorities - mainly the Uygurs - have drawn sanctions from the US and Europe.
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"Pan-Turkism disappeared maybe 100 years ago. Yes, this idea, the ideology, was very popular in the 1920s, but not now. We are not talking about any kind of pan-Turkism within this organisation and they cannot influence our neighbours," he said.
"I can say that the Organisation of Turkic States would not pose any threat to any country."
Koishibayev was involved in the early negotiations to establish the council, first proposed in 2006 by then Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Its initial membership included Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. Uzbekistan joined in 2019.
He said the main purpose of creating the Turkic Council was to strengthen cooperation in the culture, language and economy.
"There are no talks on military-political issues under the framework of the organisation," Koishibayev said.
Without mentioning Xinjiang - which borders Kazakhstan - he said his country supported China's anti-terrorism efforts, including through information and experience exchanges and their joint security efforts under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, whose members include China, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Earlier this month, Beijing supported a Russian-led intervention, at the request of Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to quell unrest - originally blamed on external forces and "extremists".
Tokayev has since pledged ambitious economic reform to bridge the gap between the country's wealthy minority - just 162 people hold about 50 per cent of its wealth - and the struggling population. More than half earn less than 50,000 Kazakhstani tenge (US$114) per month.
It is an acknowledgement that rampant inequality also played a role in Kazakhstan's worst unrest since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and Koishibayev said it had served as a "warning" to his country.
"Young people in Kazakhstan don't have development opportunities and have no way to find a good job," he said.
"The problem of inequality has not appeared all of a sudden but has been an economic problem in Kazakhstan, and this is now a major issue that Kazakhstan needs to deal with as soon as possible."
He also said cooperation with China was a priority for the resource-rich country - Kazakhstan has 3 per cent of global oil reserves and 40 per cent of the world's uranium production - in its future development.
While many doubt the likelihood of meaningful structural reform, a stable Kazakhstan on its northwestern border is in China's security and economic interests.
Positioned between China and Europe, Kazakhstan is also the centrepiece of China's Belt and Road Initiative, the global infrastructure and investment programme that aims to build a vast network of roads, railways and ports.
Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled the belt and road plan during a visit to Astana - the former name of Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan - in 2013. At the same time, Xi and Nazarbayev celebrated the launch of a joint gas pipeline and signed a US$30 billion trade and investment agreement.
The links between the two countries run deep. There are 1.5 million Kazakhs living in China, mostly in northern Xinjiang, and Kazakhstan elites, including Tokayev, studied in the country. China is also Kazakhstan's largest trading partner and top export destination.
Koishibayev said these ties reflected that "a friendly relationship with China is also a very important factor for the internal politics of Kazakhstan".
But he acknowledged reports of anti-China protests in the country, often cited by belt and road critics as dark examples of a colonial China using its investment power to pillage host countries of their natural resources.
Discontent over Chinese-backed investment was mostly caused by the lack of qualified workers in Kazakhstan, and compounded by the income inequality between Kazakh workers and their foreign counterparts, including those from China, Koishibayev said.
"But it is not because the Chinese took away local jobs. Rather, it is because we don't have enough skilled workers for these jobs."
