Turkic states back Turkey's TÜRKPOL police union proposal in Astana

September 12, 2026 at 07:30 PM2 min

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Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan backed Turkey's proposal to create a Turkic police union, TÜRKPOL, at a ministerial meeting in Astana. Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi announced the support after the third meeting of interior ministers of the Organization of Turkic States. The meeting also discussed simplified travel and a possible EU-style passport control system for Turkic citizens.

Key Facts

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan positively assessed Turkey's TÜRKPOL police union initiative.
Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi announced the support after the third meeting of interior ministers of the Organization of Turkic States in Astana.
The meeting discussed creating unified passport control points at airports for Turkic citizens and a system similar to the EU's.
Turkey and Azerbaijan already allow travel by identity card, and Turkey wants to extend this to other Turkic states.
An OTS leaders' summit will be held in Ankara next month under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

TÜRKPOL Initiative

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan positively assessed Turkey's initiative to create the Turkic police union TÜRKPOL. Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi announced the support after the third meeting of interior ministers of the Organization of Turkic States in Astana. Çiftçi said the creation of TÜRKPOL could strengthen cooperation among Turkic states in combating international crime.

Travel Facilitation

The Astana meeting also discussed simplifying mutual travel for citizens of OTS member states. Participants considered creating unified passport control points at airports for Turkic citizens and introducing a system similar to the EU's. Another agenda item was the possibility of travel between Turkic states using identity cards. Çiftçi noted that such a mechanism already operates between Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and between Turkey and Azerbaijan. Turkey considers it appropriate to extend the identity card travel system to other Turkic states.

Upcoming Summit

Çiftçi announced that an OTS leaders' summit will be held in Ankara next month. The Astana meeting was one of the preparatory stages for the upcoming high-level discussions chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.