Incredible TURAN Renaissance: A Way forward for Greater Regional & Global Geo Politics

• Historical and Cultural Ties: Pakistan’s northern regions and significant communities, like the Hazara in Baluchistan, have deep historical and cultural connections with Central Asian Turanic culture, making it logical for Pakistan to seek closer ties with Turkic states.
• Geopolitical and Economic Benefits: Aligning with the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and participating in the Turan Renaissance can enhance Pakistan’s trade, commercial interests, and strategic security, while also helping to mitigate regional challenges such as sectarian issues and territorial disputes.
• Strategic Alignment: Given its historical connections and current geopolitical challenges, Pakistan should consider seeking observer status in the OTS as a strategic move to integrate more closely with Turkic states, promoting regional prosperity and cooperation.

TURAN Renaissance Historical Perspective:

Turan is referred to a specific region in central Asia and the term Turan is perceived as denoting lands inhabited by Turkic-speaking tribes. Turan appears next to Iran on numerous maps of the 19th century to designate a region encompassing modern Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and northern parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This area roughly corresponds to what is called Central Asia today.

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Historically, Turan was not defined by fixed borders rather It embraces the unity of all Turks regardless of where they live and work for the common goal which is based on their culture, tradition, etc. To elaborate on the historic Turkic empires with this map: the main Turkic empires in history include, the Hunnic Empire, Turkic Qaghanate, Seljuk Empire, The Ottoman Empire, the Timurid Empire, and the Mughal Empire.

All these empires were created by a Turkic dynasty throughout history. The Chingisid Empire (Cengiz Khan) is known as a Mongol empire. Many scholars have written that Cengiz was half Turkic half Mongol. There are many more places where Turks have moved settled and created their own countries throughout history.

The concept of TURAN is depicted by the German “Map of Iran and Turan”, dated 1843 (during the Qajar dynasty), Turan territory is indicated by an orange line (in the attached map below). According to the legend (bottom right of the map), Turan encompasses regions including modern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, northern parts of Afghanistan, and northern Pakistan and Kazakhstan, which corresponds to what is called Central Asia today.

List of the areas mentioned in the map as part of Turan: 1. Khwarazm 2. Bukhara with Balkh 3. Shehersebz (near Bukhara) 4. Hissar 5. Kokand 6. Durwaz 7. Karategin 8. Kunduz 9. Kafiristan 10. Chitral 11. Gilgit 12. Iskardu 13. & 14. The northern steppes (Kazakhstan).

Current TURAN Renaissance Geo-Political Composition:

The Turan concept in the modern day, we can say that it is currently composed of an existing organization of Turkic states that is led by Türkiye. The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) includes Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Türkiye. Other than OTS states, ECO (Economic Coordination Organization) exists that was started originally from the Concept of RCD (Pakistan, Türkiye & Iran) but was later expanded in 1992 after the collapse of the USSR to include seven new members, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The main objective of ECO was to develop the necessary infrastructure and institutions among the member states to make full use of the available resources in the region and provide sustainable development. It should be kept in mind that Central Asia (Formerly Turkestan) was the region of the ‘Great Game’ between the British and Imperial Russia.

This British-Russian competition was significant not only because of the hydrocarbon resources but also for the struggle for influence. Elaborating on another historical fact of World War II, one of Germany’s central goals was to expand southeast into the Caucasus and Central Asia (Turkestan) to gain control of the vast farmland and natural energy resources.

In this regard, quite a few ECO summit meetings had taken place in which the emphasis was the Connectivity for Regional Prosperity through greater economic integration & close people-to-people contact. ECO is an important platform for constructive dialogue among member states and has set the direction of development of the member states. ECO has significant potential for expanding partnership, particularly in vital issues including security and there is a big need for cooperation among member states in energy.

The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), formerly called the Turkic Council or the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an intergovernmental organization comprising all but one of the internationally recognized Turkic sovereign states: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan; while Hungary and Turkmenistan are observers.

Its overarching aim is to promote comprehensive cooperation among the Turkic peoples. Moreover, it aims further to (1) Enhance the economic gains of the Turkic states, (2) create a “Greater Turkic vision” by promoting the Turkish lifestyle, (3) Reasserting Turkic influence in the Caucasus, (4) and Expanding options in the face of international pressures.

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First proposed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2006, it was founded on 3 October 2009 in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan. The General Secretariat is located in Turkey’s Istanbul. In addition to Turkmenistan, the organization has also admitted Hungary and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as observers, although the latter is only recognized by Turkey. During the 8th summit in Istanbul in 2021, the organization was restructured and adopted its current name.

Pakistan’s Inclusion in TURAN Renaissance and Potential Geo-Political Gains:

Pakistan’s northern parts (Gilgit, Kakadu, Chitral, Kafiristan, etc.) was part of greater Turan historically as per its location in the vicinity of the ancient Silk Road. The map depicted by a European archive has shown the boundaries of the Turan in which northern parts of Pakistan were its southern outskirts. For instance, other than communities from the Northern Parts of Pakistan, there is a significant number of people from the Hazara community living in Baluchistan province (in Great Spirit of Turan), Hazara people are a Turko-Mongol ethnic group living in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Having said this and set the background for the subject, Pakistani people predominantly have deep roots in central Asian Turanic culture. Pakistan is located in the sub-continent map that was mostly ruled by the sultans of the Turkic dynasty. This background is enough for Pakistan to develop a thought process amongst scholastic circles if it makes sense to be closely associated with the organization of Turkic states (OTS) in order to help the revival of the TURAN vision.

Pakistan has been facing challenges from eastern and western neighbors in many ways, including terrorism, sabotage, sectarian politics, etc. The concepts of Lar aw bar Afghan which refers to lower and upper referring to Pashtun regions divided by the Afghanistan Pakistan border, have been died down decades back but every Afghan regime always keeps this slogan alive. TURAN renaissance will help this Lar aw bar Afghan slogan die down which is consistently used by all Afghan regimes against Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan has been the victim of religious sectarian politics that is supported by different countries from the region, especially our southwestern neighbor. TURAN revival will help limit Sectarian problems from our southwestern neighbor pounding into Pakistan.

TURAN Renaissance Conclusion:

Pakistan and Central Asian Republics have many things in common in their societies like the religion of Islam, tribal systems, architecture, art, and design, and a common TURANIC background. There are some key visionary benefits linked with the Organization of Turkic states (Turan Renaissance).

• Pakistan can get great benefits through Turan revival since it will help enhance trade & commercial interests.
• TURAN renaissance will promote the idea of Developing a joint military-industrial complex.
• Pakistan will get rid of the Lar o Bar Afghanistan slogan
• TURAN revival will help Pakistan limit & overcome the Sectarian issues associated with its southwestern neighbor.

Therefore, it is in the greater interest of Pakistan’s side that our policymakers start thinking about linking our strategic and commercial interests with the renaissance of TURAN. As a first strategic move, Pakistan must seek observer status in the organization of Turkic states.

Col (Retd) Maqbool Malik contributed to this article