Erdogan's visit to expand strategic partnership with Kazakhstan

By Trend

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is slated to pay a two-day visit to Kazakhstan on Wednesday to attend a regional summit and hold talks with his Kazakh counterpart and participating leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

It is expected that concrete steps will be taken to expand the strategic partnership relations between the two countries during Erdogan's official visit to Kazakhstan on Oct. 12-13, symbolizing the new era of bilateral relations with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who made official contacts in Ankara for the first time in May.

Erdogan and Tokayev will hold one-on-one talks and attend inter-delegation meetings in the capital Astana to discuss bilateral relations and international issues after an official welcoming ceremony.

The presidents will also attend a high-level strategic cooperation council meeting to enhance the political, economic, cultural and defense ties.

Erdogan's visit to Kazakhstan, who will also attend the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) to be held in Astana, will also be important in terms of political relations between the two countries.

The two-day summit will address political, economic, humanitarian and environmental issues, as well as new challenges and threats.

Since Erdogan's last visit in 2017, Kazakhstan has been experiencing a new political and socioeconomic process that came with the change of power.

This year, Türkiye and Kazakhstan celebrated the 30th anniversary of establishing their diplomatic relations.

Türkiye was the first country to recognize the declaration of independence of Kazakhstan, which was a part of the former Soviet Union for about 70 years and gained its sovereignty with the dissolution of the union.

Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations with Türkiye in March 1992, about two months after officially announcing its independence.

Thus, Türkiye opened its embassy in Almaty, the country's capital at that time, and pioneered the establishment of the first diplomatic mission in independent Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan also set up its embassy in Ankara in the same year. In 2009, bilateral relations gained the status of strategic partnership.

Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aibek Smadiyarov said on Monday that 11 heads of state, including from Azerbaijan and Palestine, would be attending the summit.

Established in 1992, the CICA is a multi-national Asia-focused forum with 27 member states and more than 10 other countries and inter-governmental organizations with observer status.

On the sidelines of the summit, Erdogan is expected to hold bilateral talks with participating leaders, including Putin. They will meet on Thursday to discuss Ukraine and bilateral relations, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Commenting on the possibility that Türkiye could host talks between Russia and the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Tuesday that Moscow would be willing to listen to any suggestions but could not say in advance whether this would lead to results.

He said Erdogan would have an opportunity to put proposals to Putin when both visit Kazakhstan.

Despite being on opposing sides, Türkiye and Russia also lead efforts for a solution in Syria. The Astana Process was launched in 2017 in a bid to restore peace and stability in the Arab country, which has been ravaged by war since 2011, when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.

On July 19, Erdogan, Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held a trilateral meeting in Iran's capital Tehran. The leaders gathered for the seventh summit in the Astana format to discuss recent developments in Syria; the fight against terrorist groups, which pose a threat to regional security, particularly the YPG/PKK and Daesh, the humanitarian situation; and the voluntary return of Syrians.