Turkic states are those countries that historically share a Turkish culture and heritage. They are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, essentially the -Stan countries in Central Asia plus Azerbaijan and Turkey. They’re all already a part of the Turkic council or the organization of Turkish states, which is an intergovernmental organization whose objective is promoting cooperation among states that speak Turkish languages and share that heritage. So far, it’s an inter-governmental organization whose members are fully sovereign countries, but in 2021, General Secretary Baghdad Amrayev announced that the Turkic council seeks a united state overseeing the Turkic world. The general idea is to create the United Turkish States, a union of somewhat sovereign states, a union sharing a common diplomatic representation and a number of common policy guidelines.
Although this makes sense for the Central Asian countries, it would be odd for Turkey and Azerbaijan to join, given that they are territorially disconnected. Turkey has so much of its own identity due to its own individual history and heritage, and it would be sad to see it somewhat disappear to become just a member state of something that is a part of its culture.
“Flag of the Organization of Turkic States” By Organization of Turkic States - (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
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