Energy Security Would Not Be Possible without the Turkic States

Instead of isolating the war in Ukraine, the European Union’s response has globalized its negative effects, and one can only hope that the armed conflict itself will not become global, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Istanbul on Thursday.

Speaking at the ministerial-level meeting of the Organization of Turkic States on economic and trade issues, the minister underlined that the EU is facing the most serious economic and security challenges in decades, as the EU’s response to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine was extremely misguided. He argued that these misguided decisions have damaged cooperation between East and West and that the sanctions have been a complete failure, resulting in a significant weakening of the EU’s competitiveness.

These circumstances further upvalue our observer status in the Organization of Turkic States and our cooperation with the body and its member states,”

he emphasized.

Péter Szijjártó stressed that Hungary has always been against the repeated ‘blocization’ of the world, as historical experience shows that Hungary has always been defeated by the lack of civilized cooperation between the two blocs, and the government therefore remains in favor of connectivity. “It is not possible to improve Europe’s competitiveness without restoring East-West cooperation, and the chances of this happening are diminishing,” he emphasized.

He described the Organization of Turkic States as an important platform for “bridge-building,” and pointed out that some of the traditional supply lines were now impossible and that its member states could be important in providing physical links between East and West in the coming years. The minister noted that

the Turkic countries have the 14th highest combined gross domestic product (GDP) in the global ranking, and at the same time the third largest natural gas reserves in the world, and could play an important role in improving energy security.

Szijjártó stressed that Hungary’s energy security would not be possible without the Turkic states, or the TurkStream pipeline, which was built despite the threats of sanctions, and without diversification. However, he noted that the friendship between the states is “not a gas friendship,” as the cooperation started more than ten years ago. He recalled that this friendship was sharply criticized by European leaders at the time, who are now queuing for joint photos with the leaders of the countries concerned.

Finally, the foreign minister highlighted that trade between Hungary and the Turkic countries exceeded four billion dollars last year and will exceed 2.8 billion dollars in the first half of 2023.

Via MTI, Featured photo via Facebook/Péter Szijjártó