Turkic States Back Creation of TÜRKPOL Police Alliance

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan have backed Turkey's initiative to establish TÜRKPOL — a police alliance of Turkic states. Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi announced this to journalists following the third meeting of interior ministers from member states of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Astana, according to AZERTAC.

According to Çiftçi, the creation of TÜRKPOL will strengthen cooperation among Turkic states in combating international crime.

At the Astana meeting, discussions also covered the simplification of citizen mobility between OTS member countries. Specifically, participants considered the possibility of opening unified passport control points at airports for citizens of Turkic states — modeled on the mechanism operating in European Union countries. Another item on the agenda was introducing the possibility of travel between OTS countries using national identity documents.

Çiftçi clarified that such a mechanism already operates between Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, as well as between Turkey and Azerbaijan. The Turkish side considers it appropriate to extend this system to other Turkic states.