Kürşad Zorlu, Deputy Chairman of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, purportedly stated that granting Russia observer status in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) directly violates the bloc's internal regulations. According to the strict criteria established at the 2021 Istanbul summit, any prospective member or observer state must legally recognize at least one Turkic language as an official or state language nationwide. While certain Russian republics possess local designations for Tatar or Bashkir, the Russian Federation fails to meet this nationwide linguistic requirement.

The controversy allegedly stems from a proposal made by Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the Ankara summit, where he suggested integrating Russia into the OTS framework. Zorlu described the matter as highly sensitive, noting that while the newly introduced 'OTS+' format could theoretically serve as an alternative pathway, any such maneuver would require unanimous strategic approval from all member states.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Russian regime supposedly claimed that participation in the organization would be 'appropriate', despite admitting that no formal application has been submitted yet. Analysts point out that broader cultural ties, particularly cooperation within TÜRKSOY involving Russian constituent republics, have remained practically frozen since 2015 due to ongoing political friction driven by Moscow's policies.

Source: kun.uz