COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES IN EUROPE AND THE TURKISH WORLD

Abstract

This article presents a comparative institutional analysis between the European Union (EU) and the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), focusing on their structural functionality, decision-making mechanisms, and geopolitical roles. The study reveals the EU's growing institutional crises, functional paralysis, and strategic ambiguity in recent years. Bureaucratic complexity, unanimity-based decision-making, post-Brexit fragmentation trends, and full dependence on NATO in security matters are identified as key factors diminishing the EU's geopolitical weight. The migration crisis and the lack of coordination in energy policy have further deepened structural inconsistencies wit-hin the Union. In contrast, the Organization of Turkic States stands out with its more flexible, hori-zontal, and consensus-based decision-making model. Decisions made through the Council of Heads of State and the Council of Foreign Ministers are shaped at the level of political leadership, while the principles of rotation and equal participation strengthen internal coordination. At the same time, cultural and intellectual integration is advanced through platforms such as TURKSOY, TURKPA, and the Turkic Academy. Initiatives like the Turkic World Vision 2040, the Trans-Caspian Trans-port Corridor, and the Zangezur Corridor demonstrate the OTS's ambition to become a real geopoli-tical and economic actor, beyond its symbolic function. The article concludes that the EU's institu-tional weaknesses are reducing its influence in global power dynamics, while the OTS, with its inc-reasingly functional structures, is emerging as a new regional center of attraction.