Beyond shared identity: Military cooperation across the Turkic states

Military cooperation among Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is growing, but it does not yet amount to a unified four-country alliance. The ties are taking shape through different channels: a formal alliance between Azerbaijan and Türkiye, a separate allied-relations treaty between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, and broader exercises that bring Central Asian states together. These arrangements create more opportunities for joint training and coordination, while leaving each country room to pursue its own security policy. That distinction matters. Shared Turkic identity and diplomatic ties help bring the governments together, but practical military cooperation depends on more than political language. Exercises can build familiarity between units and test how forces communicate. They do not, by themselves, establish a joint command, common defense […]