Turkistan, Kazakhstan. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Turkic states to strengthen their ties with the Turkish Cypriots while attending an informal Organisation of Turkic States summit. He also urged closer digital cooperation as the summit focused on artificial intelligence and digital development.
Call to strengthen ties with Turkish Cypriots
Erdogan said the inclusion of the Turkish Cypriot people made the summit meaningful, describing them as an integral part of the Turkic world. He said he was pleased to see President Tufan Erhurman at the Turkistan summit and expressed hope that the Turkic world would continue strengthening political, economic, and cultural relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Digitalisation and artificial intelligence focus
Erdogan said it was important to adopt a vision of a Turkic world developing through digitalisation. Referring to Crimean Tatar intellectual Ismail Gaspirali’s motto of “unity in language, thought, and work,” he said it was time to add “unity in digital vision.”
He said this digital vision should be built on qualified human resources, strong digital infrastructure, and a data-driven public administration approach, while strengthening digital connectivity between member countries.
Joint projects and independence concerns
Erdogan said joint technology projects would support the digital vision and warned that falling behind in digital transformation could threaten independence. He said artificial intelligence should not become a tool of domination and that the issue should be approached from the perspective of opportunity.
Historical references
Erdogan said the Turkic world should remember Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Farabi, and Ibn Sina, citing their contributions to algebra and algorithms, philosophy and logic, and medicine.
How do you think Turkic states can expand cooperation on artificial intelligence and digital development?