On Wednesday, 12 October, the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
This year the summit marks three important events: the 30th anniversary of the CICA, the end of Kazakhstan's biennial presidency in the conference, and the goal of transforming the conference into a full-fledged organization.
The attention of the international media, rather than on the summit itself, has been focused on the Putin-Erdogan meeting.
Russia does not want to sever relations with Turkey, a member of NATO, also considering the sanctions by the West to which Ankara has refrained from adhering. However at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Turkey voted to condemn the "illegal annexation attempt" by Russia of the four partially occupied regions in Ukraine, a move branded by the UN as a "grave violation" of international law.
A few hours earlier the Turkish president had declared "our goal is to continue the momentum that has been achieved and put an end to the bloodshed as soon as possible" strengthened by its role in helping Ukraine to resume grain exports and in the exchange of prisoners between the two warring countries. Russia, however, has complained that its grain and fertilizer exports, while not directly targeted by Western sanctions, continue to be hampered by problems such as accessing foreign ports and obtaining insurance. .
Erdogan has several times promoted talks between the parties "I always say that a just peace can be established with diplomacy, that there are no winners in war and there are no losers in an equitable peace" and even before the Astana summit he had heralded the meeting with Putin as an attempt to "Stop the bloodbath".
The meeting between the two heads of state took place but there was no discussion of the war in Ukraine as confirmed by the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov thus disappointing the expectations of the eve.
Commercial and economic relations were discussed. Putin said Turkey offers the most reliable route to supply gas to Europe and proposed to Erdogan to make Turkey a new supply hub by allowing prices to be set regardless of political interference. The Russian also promised that Ukrainian grain exports would continue.
How was the CICA born? In 1992, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed, to 47a session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, to create a conference with the aim of promoting peace, security, stability and prosperity in Asia as a Eurasian effort in the same spirit as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE ), established in 1975, which has since evolved into the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The first countries to sign the founding document of the conference were: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. The second founding document, theAlmaty Act, which serves as the statute of the CICA, was adopted during the first summit held in Almaty in 2002. Currently the members are 27 states, eight countries and five multinational organizations, including the United Nations, have observer status.
The CICA Summit is convened to conduct consultations, review progress and prioritize its activities. The last summit was held in Dushanbe in 2019. In 2002, the first CICA summit was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with subsequent meetings approximately every four years (2006 Almaty, 2010 Istanbul, 2014 Shanghai, 2019 Dushanbe ). Thirty years after that first summit, analysts continue to question whether effective collective security structures can take root in Eurasia. The Russian invasion of Ukraine (Russia is a CICA member, Ukraine an observer) has complicated many of the political-economic structures in which Moscow is a member, but other difficulties also exist.
Every two years, a country holds the presidency of the organization. This year, Kazakhstan concludes its second two-year presidency at the CICA. An important achievement of the CICA during Kazakhstan's presidency was the update of the CICA catalog of confidence-building measures of 2021, which includes 18 priority areas of cooperation, such as epidemiological safety, public health and pharmaceuticals, safety and in the use of technologies. "The CICA has become a broad and inclusive international platform, which guarantees regular dialogue and consultations, and is ready to launch the transformation process into a full-fledged organization", said CICA executive director Kairat Sarybay
The sixth summit was planned to transform the CICA in a full-fledged international organization, as announced by Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi on the sidelines of the 77tha session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 21 September. "Systematic work was carried out by the Presidency and the Secretariat in developing the concept of transformation on the basis of extensive consultations with all Member States", Sarybay said.
Eurasia certainly needs confidence-building measures, but it is unclear whether the CICA summit can make progress amid many regional difficulties.
The intergovernmental forum this year saw the presence of eleven presidents from Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Russia, Tajikistan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan. The vice presidents of China and Vietnam and the president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko participated as an observer.
According to Sarybay, the successful institutional development of the CICA would not have been possible without the invaluable contribution of its rotating presidencies, held consecutively by Kazakhstan, Türkiye, China and Tajikistan, which were "driving forces behind the CICA process".
Kazakhstan's last presidency in 2020-2022 was recognized as a period in which several important milestones were achieved.
"On the initiative of Kazakhstan, two new CICA institutions were created in 2021: the renewed and institutionalized CICA Think Tank Forum (TTF) and the CICA Council of Eminent Persons (CEP)", Sarybay said.
The conference was also attended by the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres. In his video message, he said that the world benefits come from a peaceful and prosperous Asia. "I am grateful for our partnership in pursuing our shared goals: promoting sustainable development. Promoting human rights, peace and stability. And strengthening multilateral cooperation", Guterres said.
Photo: Kremlin
@All rights reserved
