Strategic partnership and economic diplomacy are the focus of the Foreign Minister’s visit to Turkey
ANKARA, April 19, 2018 – Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov is on an official visit to the Republic of Turkey. At the heart of the talks in Ankara is the elaboration of the substantive issues of the forthcoming official visit of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Turkey this summer. The parties are also preparing for the meeting of the high-level strategic cooperation council chaired by the heads of the two states.
During the talks K.Abdrakhmanov with the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the parties agreed to soon finalize the coordination of the agenda and draft documents to be signed during the visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Ankara. Also, a number of economic contracts are being finalized. The most promising areas of cooperation are transport, agriculture, small and medium business, tourism. Kazakhstan is interested in developing the transport and transit potential of the two countries.
Turkey remains a priority investment partner of Kazakhstan. The two governments are working to implement the agreements reached during President Erdogan’s visit to Astana last September. The parties implement the joint economic program “New Synergy”. In total, with the participation of Turkish investors, 32 projects in non-primary sectors of the economy for the amount of $ 1.4 billion were realized. The most active investors are Yildiz Holding, Eczacibasi Holding, Abdi Ibrahim, Anadolu Holding, Aselsan Elektorinik, YDA Holding. At present, work is underway to enter new Turkish companies in Kazakhstan.
In 2017, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Turkey in comparison with the previous year grew by 28% and amounted to 1.9 billion dollars. The Foreign Minister spoke about initiatives to modernize the Kazakh economy, as well as the program “Ruhani zharyrou”. Interest caused the implementation of the transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet.
The ministers also discussed the preparation of the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking countries, as well as the activities of the Turkic Academy based in Astana.
During the talks, the interlocutors also supported the further strengthening of the Astana process on Syria. “In the conditions of the ongoing conflict in Syria, Astana remains the only effective platform for achieving the cessation of bloodshed in Syria. The guarantor countries – Turkey, Russia and Iran – established a tripartite mechanism to monitor the cessation of hostilities, a working group for the exchange of detainees, the transfer of bodies of the deceased and the search for missing persons, and signed a Memorandum on the establishment of de-escalation zones. Today, the Astana process needs not only continuation, but also greater international support in order to improve the situation on the ground. At the same time, we must all fully support the Geneva platform under the auspices of the UN as a platform for a political settlement, “K.Abdrakhmanov emphasized.
The visit of the Kazakh delegation will continue with meetings with the political leadership of Turkey, representatives of business circles, the expert community and the media.
Press-service
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Kazakhstan