Turkic States Support Creation of TÜRKPOL Police Alliance

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan supported 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 of member states of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Astana, according to AZERTAJ.

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

At the Astana meeting, the simplification of citizen movement between OTS countries was also discussed. In particular, participants considered the possibility of establishing joint passport control checkpoints at airports for citizens of Turkic states — similar to the mechanism in place in European Union countries. Another agenda item was the introduction of the ability to travel between OTS countries using identity cards instead of passports.

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 expedient to extend this system to other Turkic states.