On 29 September 2023, the First Germany-Central Asia Summit was held in Berlin between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President of Kazakhstan Kasım Cömert Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadır Caparov, President of Uzbekistan Şevket Mirziyoyev, President of Tajikistan Imamali Rahman and President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov.
The summit was held shortly after the meeting between the US and the Central Asian countries on 20 September 2023, upon the invitation of the German Chancellor Mr. Scholz to the Central Asian Heads of State. These successive meetings show that on the one hand, the West does not want to leave Russia and China alone in Central Asia; on the other hand, the European Union (EU) under the leadership of Germany wants to act autonomously in regional competition.
Because the strategic geographical location of Central Asia and the central role of the region in the Europe-Asia connection, its vast energy resources, market potential and the role of Central Asian countries in the solution of issues threatening regional security, such as the current situation in Afghanistan, show that the EU has important interests in Central Asia.[1]On the other hand, the need for raw materials and energy resources of Central Asia for Germany, the largest economic power of the EU, to maintain and strengthen its economic position has increased especially after the Russia-Ukraine War.
The lack of Russian gas has led to economic disruption and as a result to social crises in Germany and across Europe. This situation has led to the realisation of the destructive effects of dependence on a single country in the EU and the creation of alternative routes. The fact that this search coincided with the period when Central Asian countries, which had reached a potential to break the Russian influence, wanted to develop alternative partnerships, created a favourable conjuncture that would bring Europe and Central Asia closer to each other. The summit in Berlin decided to establish a strategic partnership between Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.1 [2]
In the joint declaration issued after the meeting, it was stated in which areas this cooperation would be developed. In this context, it was decided to increase cooperation in the fields of climate change, sustainable development, green energy, democracy, human rights, good governance, digitalisation, migration, stabilisation in Afghanistan and drug trafficking. [3] The main theme of the meeting was energy, raw materials, and economic issues.
Central Asia is not only an important region in meeting the EU’s oil and natural gas needs, but also an address that will reduce the EU’s dependence on China’s raw material resources in terms of the supply of precious metals required to complete the transition to green energy. In fact, President of Kazakhstan Mr. Kasım Cömert Tokayev expressed the importance of the region in terms of critical raw material resources with the following words:[4]
“We are interested in expanding cooperation in the field of critical raw materials. At Present, the global demand for rare earth metals far exceeds the supply. Further technological development of countries will only strengthen this trend. Kazakhstan, like other Central Asian countries, has large reserves of critical metals and minerals needed by the European Union.”
As the President of Kazakhstan Mr Tokayev noted, the parties to the meeting are complementary to each other in meeting the supply and demand for raw materials. In this respect, it was stated that the governments will facilitate the development of bilateral trade and investment co-operation between Germany and the Central Asian states. It was noted that these initiatives will be supported both from Germany’s national resources and EU contributions.
Of course, an important issue at this point is how logistics will be provided. During the meeting, the importance of the Central Corridor, which connects Asia to Europe and is an alternative to the Southern Corridor and the Northern Corridor, was emphasised. During the discussions, it was agreed that the connection between the EU and Central Asia should be provided through this corridor. Likewise, the Central Corridor offers an independent trade route from Russia to the EU, which wants to diversify its supply chain as well as to reach energy and raw materials safely. In this context, it was decided to finance the development of the Central Corridor and infrastructure projects through the Global Gateway Initiative, designed as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In this route to be financed by the EU, the South Caucasus comes to the forefront in transporting Central Asian resources to the European market. Because one of the routes is to pass through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan to the Caspian Sea, and from there to Europe via Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Black Sea, using a 4,250 km railway line and 500 km maritime transport. Germany and even France attach importance to the development of the Black Sea route.[5] However, it should be remembered that China wants to be active on this route. Speaking at a conference held in Tbilisi on 6 September 2023, Chinese Ambassador to Georgia Zhou Qian stated that China continues to be interested in the Anaklia Project, which is planned as the largest port and trade centre in the Black Sea. [6]
Another route that can be used is the Zangezur Corridor, which Azerbaijan attaches importance to. In fact, the Zangezur Corridor offers a route that will both save time and increase cargo transport to Europe and Central Asian countries thanks to the road and rail transport to be initiated along the corridor.[7] In this respect, the Zangezur Corridor is a strong option that will ensure the Central Asia-Europe connection. However, as it is known, the Zangezur Corridor has not yet become operational, although it was included in the ceasefire agreement after the Second Karabakh War. The policies of the US and the EU, which want to create a sphere of influence in the South Caucasus, in favour of Armenia are very important in Armenia’s unwillingness to come to an agreement.
In fact, the EU’s desire to play an active role in this region, which is an important transit route for the Central Asia-Europe connection, can be considered as a pragmatic policy. However, the fact that it is being done by providing military and financial support to Armenia, which will turn the region into an insecure environment, puts the functioning of infrastructure projects and the development of commercial partnerships at risk.[8]
Therefore, instability in the South Caucasus harms the economic and political interests of Germany and the EU in general in its relations with Central Asia. In this context, it is important for Germany to persuade other European countries such as France and Greece to pursue appeasement policies instead of policies that provoke Armenia, and to fulfil the conditions of the ceasefire signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia after the Second Karabakh War to ensure a secure relationship between Germany and Central Asian countries. Because the absence of disruptions due to political disputes and conflicts in the South Caucasus means that logistics in the Central Corridor can be maintained efficiently.
As a result, Germany, the largest economic power of the EU, has aimed to maintain its status quo in Europe in the economic context by developing its relations with Central Asian countries and has pioneered an initiative that enables the EU to develop its influence in Central Asia. As a result of this initiative, it was decided to develop the Central Corridor trade route connecting Central Asia to Europe to make the strategic partnership established between Central Asian countries and Germany viable and sustainable.
The decision to use the Central Corridor, which is a pragmatic approach, increases the need for peace in the South Caucasus. In this context, it is crucial for the survival of the Central Asia initiative led by Germany that the EU, under the leadership of Germany, increases its efforts towards the South Caucasus, where a stable geopolitical climate prevails, rather than an unstable South Caucasus.
[1] “Central Asia”, European Union External Action, https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/central-asia_en, (Erişim Tarihi: 02.10.2023).
[2] “Joint Declaration by Heads of State of Central Asia and the Federal Chancellor of Germany”, Bundesregierung, https://www.bundesregierung.de/resource/blob/998352/2226656/45f64011ff425e6db0dab0c60ff50310/2023-09-29-z5-erklaerung-en-data.pdf?download=1, (Erişim Tarihi: 02.10.2023).
[3] Same place.
[4] “Germany Considers Kazakhstan As A Key Partner İn Central Asia”, DKN World News, https://dknews.kz/en/articles-in-english/304090-germany-considers-kazakhstan-as-a-key-partner-in, (Erişim Tarihi: 02.10.2023).
[5] Victor Kotsev, “The Middle Corridor: Central Asia’s Rail İndependence Vision”, Railway Technology, https://www.railway-technology.com/features/the-middle-corridor-central-asias-rail-independence-vision/, (Erişim Tarihi: 02.10.2023).
[6] “Chinese Ambassador Confirms Chinese Interest in Anaklia Port”, Civil Georgia, https://civil.ge/archives/558042, (Erişim Tarihi: 02.10.2023).
[7] Anastasıa Lavrına, “Zangezur Corridor: New Transport Route To Connect Europe And Asia”, Daily Sabah, https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/zangezur-corridor-new-transport-route-to-connect-europe-and-asia, (Erişim Tarihi: 02.10.2023).
[8] “France Agrees To Deliver Military Equipment To Armenia”, France 24, https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20231003-french-fm-catherine-colonna-visits-armenia-to-underline-continued-support, (Erişim Tarihi: 03.10.2023).
