A New Integration Approach in the Context of the OTS: Functional-Constructivism

This study evaluates the structure and functioning of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) through Functional-Constructivism, a hybrid model developed by synthesizing major approaches in international relations and regional integration literature, including functionalism, neo-functionalism, and social constructivism. Classical integration theories derived largely from the European Union experience tend to emphasize economic and technical integration, but they do not fully explain identity-based regional formations such as the OTS, which are shaped by shared language, culture, and historical memory. Since its institutionalization, the OTS has advanced through the simultaneous development of functional cooperation and identity construction. The Functional-Constructivism model argues that practical cooperation in economic, technical, institutional, educational, and cultural fields interacts with shared norms and collective identity, producing a gradual and cyclical process of integration. Rather than predicting rapid supranationalization, the model explains long-term institutional deepening under intergovernmental conditions. Using the OTS case, the study discusses the explanatory capacity, strengths, and limits of this model and assesses the conditions under which the OTS may evolve into a prospective Turkic Union while highlighting its relevance for culturally grounded regional organizations beyond the European experience and for future comparative integration research. Methodologically, the study adopts a theory-driven qualitative case study design based on comparative theoretical analysis and qualitative document analysis of primary sources including OTS summit declarations, institutional documents, and official strategy papers, as well as secondary academic literature. The findings reveal that the OTS exhibits a hybrid integration pattern in which intergovernmental decision-making, functional sectoral cooperation, and constructivist identity-building operate simultaneously, and that member states contribute to this cyclical process in differentiated roles.