Kazakhstan's role in strengthening the Turkic Council and regional cooperation in Central Asia

This thesis examines the cooperation among the Central Asian Turkic Republics and Turkey in the socio-economic, political, cultural areas, and regional cooperation and security in Central Asia, besides the role of the Kazakhstan in the activities of the Turkic Council under the framework of New Regionalism and Liberal Institutionalism. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the meetings of the Presidents of the Turkic States and the Turkic Council Summits between Central Asian Turkic Republics and Turkey have become increasingly important. In this study, the main themes of the high level summits are analyzed and the role of the Turkic Council in strengthening and improving relations among the Turkic States are also discussed. The member countries of the Turkiс Council cooperate in the framework of international organizations. Kazakhstan has played a significant role in the development of initiatives of the Turkiс Council.The aim of this thesis is to determine the activities of the Turkic Council and the role of Kazakhstan in strengthening cooperation in the context of cooperation and security issues in Central Asia. In the first part of the thesis, after discussing the socio-economic and political relations in the newly emerged states in Central Asia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the interests of powerful actors, such as,Turkey, USA, China, Russia and the European Unionin Central Asia areexamined. The second section deals with regional co-operation and security issues in Central Asia, and Kazakhstan's policies concerning these issues and its role in strengthening the regional cooperation.In the third chapter, the activities of the Turkiс Council, its the policies and strategies regarding the development of regional cooperation are evaluated. In addition, in this thesis, important factors of the cultural, psychological and communicative closeness of the Turkish people are emphasized, which are necessary for strengthening the integration unity and determining common interests, Moreover, the current problems encountered in the integration process by the Turkic Republics are included.