A view from Moscow: It is too early to talk about replacing Russia  with Turkey in Central Asia

ArmInfo.The latest events in Afghanistan are part of a large geopolitical confrontation over the Central Asian zone of responsibility of the CSTO.  Victor Nadein-  Raevsky, senior researcher at Institute of World Economy and  International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, expressed  a similar opinion to ArmInfo.  

"In particular, by leaving Afghanistan, the United States delegates  part of its own functions and powers in this country and not only in  this country, but also in the surrounding region of Turkey. This is  done quite deliberately in order to reduce tensions in relations with  Ankara and to further deepen partnership with it within the framework  of NATO," he stressed.

According to the expert, in response to these actions of the United  States, Russia is acting quite rationally, without going beyond  political pragmatism. According to Nadein-Raevsky, having received  representatives of the Taliban movement, which is officially banned  in Russia, in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry demonstrated this  very pragmatism. According to him, the Taliban does not pose a threat  to Russia itself.  Moreover, under certain circumstances it can even  become a factor stabilizing the situation in the region.

The Taliban itself, in his opinion, is well aware that in Central  Asia, in the person of the Islamic State, there is a dangerous,  common enemy posing a serious threat, including for Russia. And for  Moscow, the promises of the Taliban to confront IS are extremely  important. How important is cooperation in this matter with the same  Turkey, which over the past three decades has been constantly  increasing its own influence in Central Asia in all possible sectors  of public and political life.  "

It is important to note that all of this has naturally transformed  into a rather serious advantage of Turkey in the Central Asian  states. Thus, today we have to state the dominance of Turkic ideas in  this part of the post- Soviet space, in the CSTO area of  responsibility. Nevertheless, Moscow also has leverage over the  situation, as evidenced by the same meeting with the Taliban on  Smolenskaya Square. And, in this light, it is too early to talk about  the readiness of the Central Asian countries to replace Russia with  Turkey," the Russian expert summed up.