To Turkey without a “foreign passport”: Uzbeks may soon be able to travel with an ID card

Uzbekistan citizens may soon be granted the opportunity to travel freely to Turkey and other brotherly nations without a foreign travel passport, using only their domestic biometric ID card.

Within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit, practical discussions between member countries, particularly Uzbekistan and Turkey, have reached a new stage regarding the fundamental simplification of border crossing procedures and the rules for staying in host countries.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's important initiative

At the OTS summit held in Ankara, the President of Uzbekistan put forward an important proposal aimed at facilitating mutual travel for brotherly peoples:

• Multilateral agreement: The head of state initiated the development of a special multilateral agreement within the OTS framework to simplify mutual travel for citizens;

• Travel with an ID card: The proposed agreement envisions the elimination of excessive bureaucratic barriers at border checkpoints and the legal formalization of the ability to use domestic ID cards instead of foreign travel passports.

The "Turkic ID" and "Turkic States Schengen" concept

In this direction, the Turkish side is also actively discussing a number of promising initiatives:

• A unified system for five states: A unified "Turkic ID" mechanism is being considered to facilitate movement between the five main member states of the organization — Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan;

• An alternative to the European experience: International experts and media outlets are unofficially calling this project the "Turkic States Schengen." Once this system is fully operational, it will ensure the free transit of citizens across the vast Turkic region.

Current status and existing experience

Certain international precedents for this simplified procedure have already been established:

• Current requirement: At present, a foreign travel ("zagran") passport is still mandatory for Uzbek citizens traveling to Turkey;

• Successful examples: Turkey has already implemented an entry system for Azerbaijani citizens using domestic ID cards. Uzbekistan has successfully established such a procedure with Kyrgyzstan and is working on introducing similar facilities with Tajikistan;

• Future outlook: Once the multilateral agreement under consideration is officially signed and ratified by the leaders of the OTS, Uzbek citizens will be able to set off for Turkey with just the ID card in their pocket, without needing to process an additional passport.

This integration, planned within the framework of the OTS, will not only increase tourism and business ties several times over but will also usher in a new era of cultural and economic rapprochement among Turkic peoples.