Türkiye, Kazakhstan vow to deepen strategic ties

ASTANA

Türkiye and Kazakhstan have announced their joint commitment to further improving their strategic ties and signed several agreements in different fields.

“We have full agreement for deepening both our bilateral and multilateral relations. We will increase our cooperation in all fields, particularly industry, defense industry, energy, agriculture and stockbreeding,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a joint press conference with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana on Oct. 12.

The two leaders chaired the 4th High-Level Strategic Council meeting as Turkish and Kazakh officials signed six agreements in the field of health, public health, culture and food security.

“We had signed 14 agreements in our previous meeting. Today we signed six more. All these agreements reinforce the infrastructure of our ties,” Erdoğan said, adding they want to further improve cooperation in education, security and culture.

Recalling that Türkiye, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have a trilateral mechanism and transportation and energy projects between these three countries are constituting a very important regional element of their ties, Erdoğan said he was hoping to further strengthen this mechanism and yield concrete results.

“Regional and global developments show that our cooperation between Türkiye and Kazakhstan are essential. We have therefore agreed to continue our joint efforts at both a regional and global level,” he said.

Kazakh President Tokayev, for his part, praised Türkiye’s growing role in the region and world, stressing Erdoğan’s policies made the country a credible nation in the globe. “I also want to draw attention to your mediation efforts. I want to emphasize our endorsement to your initiatives,” he said. “Türkiye is our very important strategic partner,” he noted.

Tokayev also decorated Erdoğan with Kazakhstan’s highest Order of Friendship for his efforts for the development of ties between the two countries. “It was a real surprise for me. I don’t know how to express my sentiments. I thank you very much and accept this order with honor and on behalf of my people,” Erdoğan said.