President Erdoğan: We will further expand our cooperation with Kazakhstan in the upcoming period

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Kassym-Jomart K. Tokayev of Kazakhstan held a joint press conference at Akorda Palace in Astana following their meeting.

“WE WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT KAZAKHSTAN’S STABILITY, PEACE, SOVEREIGNTY AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY”

Noting that he discussed with his Kazakhstani counterpart the excellent relations between Türkiye and Kazakhstan, two friendly and brotherly countries, during their meeting, President Erdoğan said: “We exchanged views on current regional and global issues. As you know, we elevated our relations to the level of Enhanced Strategic Cooperation during my treasured brother’s state visit to Türkiye back in May. This advanced level in our relations draws strength from our peoples’ shared ties of history, language, religion and culture. Our political, military, economic, trade and cultural cooperation further consolidate this strength.”

Stressing that Türkiye takes pride in the achievements Kazakhstan has had since independence, President Erdoğan stated: “It has been 30 years since then and we have been one of the first countries to recognize Kazakhstan’s independence. We will continue to support the stability, peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the brotherly Kazakhstan, which has a deep historical background and state experience. As was the case in the past, we continue to stand side by side today as well. May Allah preserve our unity and solidarity forever. I appreciate the reforms led by President Mr. Tokayev and the transformation Kazakhstan is undergoing. Let me take this opportunity to express my wish for the Presidential elections in November to yield auspicious developments.”

“WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK TO STRENGTHEN OUR TIES IN TRANSPORTATION AND ENERGY”

Underlining the two countries’ shared determination to further deepen the bilateral and multilateral cooperation, President Erdoğan said: “In the upcoming period, we will further expand our cooperation with Kazakhstan in trade, defense industry, energy, transportation, and especially in agriculture and husbandry. We seek deeper relations in education, security and culture. We have just signed agreements in your presence that consolidate the basis of our cooperation. We have therefore signed a total of 20 agreements, 14 back in May and 6 now. I hope the agreements signed may lead to favorable developments for our countries.”

President Erdoğan went onto say: “We surpassed the $5 billion level last year which we had set as the first target in our bilateral trade. We are approaching our medium-term target of $10 billion with firm steps. The investments of Turkish enterprises, who are among the biggest investors in Kazakhstan, total over $4 billion. We will carry on with our efforts to strengthen our ties in transportation and energy, first and foremost the consolidation of the Middle Corridor. We want to obtain concrete results by making effective use of the trilateral mechanism which we established with the inclusion of the brotherly Azerbaijan in the recent past.”

Underscoring that the regional and global developments render it imperative for Türkiye and Kazakhstan to act in cooperation as the two important members of the Turkic World, President Erdoğan said that Ankara and Astana will therefore continue their joint efforts at multilateral platforms both in Central Asia and across the world.

Expressing his pleasure since the process starting from early 1990s was crowned last year with the establishment of the Organization of Turkic States, President Erdoğan stated: “Our follow-up Turkic Council summit for next month in Uzbekistan will further strengthen our solidarity. We will take additional steps towards integration in the Turkic World. My schedule in Astana will continue tomorrow with the Sixth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, which we see as an international diplomacy success of Kazakhstan. The transformation of this structure through institutionalization will constitute an important step both for Kazakhstan and the Turkic states. I thank all our Kazakhstani brothers and sisters, first and foremost President Mr. Tokayev, for the hospitality displayed towards me and my delegation as well as for the Order of Friendship. I proudly accept this Order on behalf of my nation. I hope our Council meeting may lead to auspicious developments.”