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Abstract

Among the constants of Morocco's foreign policy is openness to the world, as we have seen since the coming of the King Mohammed 6. Morocco's geographical position, its belonging to Africa, and its proximity to Europe constitute a strategic option for the country, where it represents a point of access to the African continent, allowing it to forge relationships with different spaces.

Morocco's geographical position, its location in Africa, on the Mediterranean coast, and its proximity to Europe, constitutes a strategic advantage for the country, serving as a gateway to the African continent. This position allows Morocco to forge relationships with various geographical areas. For a long time, Morocco has pursued a strategy of openness to the world in order to better benefit from globalization.

It is in this context that Morocco considers Asia a strategic option in its foreign policy, based on historical, political, economic, and cultural ties. Morocco has embarked on a process of strengthening these relations with the countries of the region, recognizing the importance of the human, financial, economic, and technological potential of Asian nations.

Indeed, Morocco began diplomatic relations with Central Asian countries in 1990, including Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Each country in this group works with Morocco to further strengthen bilateral relations in all areas, particularly in the economic sphere, as they consider Morocco a gateway to Africa.

Aims and Objective: The objective of this work is to study the evolution of relations between Morocco and Central Asian states, as a part of the Morocco’s openness to the world.

Keywords: foreign policy, Morocco-Central Asie relations, economic Partnership

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This paper examines Turkey's evolving strategic positioning at the intersection of Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, with a particular focus on its role in the Black Sea region. In the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and escalating tensions in the Middle East, Ankara has pursued a policy of "strategic depth" and "balanced neutrality. By leveraging its control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits and its historical ties to Crimea, Turkey seeks to establish itself as an autonomous regional power and energy transit hub. This research analyzes the geoeconomic and security pillars of Turkish strategy, identifying four potential alignment scenarios ranging from pro-Western integration to regional leadership. The study concludes that Turkey's success depends on its ability to reconcile internal economic instability with complex external security objectives in a shifting global order

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This paper examines whether Türkiye’s activism within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) may unintentionally weaken, rather than deepen, political cohesion among its Central Asian members. It asks under what conditions Turkish leadership within the OTS generates cooperation, and under what conditions it instead produces hedging and shallow institutionalization.

I argue that Türkiye’s OTS strategy contains an internal contradiction. While Ankara seeks to transform cultural affinity into geopolitical influence, the more assertively it promotes identity-driven and politically sensitive initiatives, the greater the likelihood that member states will respond cautiously rather than align more closely. In multilateral institutions, cohesion depends not only on shared identity, but also on perceived equality, low political costs, and voluntary buy-in. When an organization appears to advance the priorities of one dominant actor, cooperation often remains symbolic rather than substantive.

The paper focuses on several dynamics that illustrate this tension: efforts to promote a common Turkic alphabet, attempts to elevate the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus through OTS platforms, leadership practices that may be perceived as hierarchical, and strategic assumptions that treat Central Asia as more geopolitically open than it actually is. These initiatives increase sovereignty costs for Central Asian states whose foreign policies remain shaped by multi-vector diplomacy, sensitivity to recognition issues, and structural constraints imposed by Russia, China, and other external partners.

Methodologically, the paper draws on discourse analysis of official declarations, policy statements, and public positions taken by OTS member states and relevant outside actors. Its central claim is not that the OTS is fragile or doomed, but that its future depth depends on whether functional cooperation can be separated from contested identity and recognition agendas. The paper thus contributes to broader debates on power, hierarchy, and regional order in Central Eurasia.

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This paper explores the extent to which pan-nationalist myths in the political areas of Kazakhstani society interrelate and reinforce trust in governmental institutions. On a theoretical level, the paper aims to address gaps in contemporary pan-nationalist literature and trust and distrust in Central Asia. Moreover, juxtaposing the pan-nationalist literature with the literature on institutional trust is another theoretical contribution of this work. To investigate pan-nationalism and institutional trust at the empirical level, the author analyses these aspects in the context of pan-Turkist myths and narratives expressed and configured by Kazakhstani governmental institutions and officials. The empirical database includes public speeches, statements, and publications available online on governmental websites such as the Official website of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Gov.kz, and media sources such as “Kazinform” International News Agency, Liter, InAstana.kz, and Kapital. The sources are in English, Russian, and Kazakh that were published from 2010 to 2026. To analyse the empirical data, abductive thematic analysis is used to identify themes derived from the existing literature and discover new themes that shed light on the interrelation between pan-Turkist identity and trust in political institutions. Situated between induction and deduction, abductive thematic analysis allows to intimately analyse the emerging empirical data, which further critically refines the theoretical bodies of literature. The central argument of this paper is that officials configure pan-nationalist myths and narratives to reinforce the policies and regime’s legitimacy and authority by narrating the nation’s continuation and embodiment in the contemporary institutions. Focusing on the official strategies for upholding institutional trust, the paper argues that official interpretations of pan-nationalist myths and narratives are vital for reinventing beliefs in national pride that translate into trust in political institutions, which are narrated as embodiments of the nation’s continuity. Particularly, pan-Turkist myths and narratives transmit conceptions of the national antecedent might and glory, such as the Turkic periods and nomadic past, that further create social legitimacy and trust in institutions that express and address these identity conceptions.