Adjusting to the “New Normal” of Post COVID-19: The Role of Organization of Turkic States in Multilateral Cooperation

The article explores the role of the Organization of Turkic States in enhancing cooperation among its Member and Observer States and across the region in the post-COVID-19 era. It also examines the changing postures of multilateralism before and after the pandemic, while referring to the significance of functionalism, the original parameters of which persist even today. After the theoretical introduction, the article first analyzes the ways in which the Organization has responded to the pandemic and provides concrete examples of its efforts. Next, it touches upon the peculiarities of the structure of the Organization, its working system and its decision-making process, which have allowed it to respond rapidly to the needs of its Member and Observer States and their people. In line with this aim, it examines the role of the Organization in bringing the foreign policies of the Turkic States into convergence, fostering multidimensional connectivity with a sectoral approach and supporting people-to-people cooperation. Finally, it focuses on the contributions of the organization to the capacity-building of its Member States and its support for international cooperation. Taken together, these features provide a basis to check the efficiency of the organization in terms of today’s contested multilateralism.