Turkey, Kazakhstan pledge to boost cooperation

At a joint news conference with his Kazakh counterpart Marat Tazhin, who arrived here Thursday on a visit for talks on means of strengthening cooperation with Turkey in various fields, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul hailed Turkey's ties with the central Asian country, saying "we attach great importance to our relations with Kazakhstan."

On economic and commercial ties, Gul said, "our trade volume exceeded 1.5 billion U.S. dollars recently. Turkish businessmen and contractors have undertaken a series of important projects in Kazakhstan. On the other hand, Kazakh businessmen has begun investing in Turkey in the sectors of banking and tourism."

Gul stressed that they were planning to complete the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline this year. The pipeline links Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas fields with eastern Turkey, allowing for further exports to Europe.

"We also cooperate with Kazakhstan in the fight against terrorism. We will continue supporting Kazakhstan in international platforms. We support Kazakhstan's candidacy to the rotating presidency of Organization of the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)," Gul added.

For his part, Tazhin said Kazakhstan considers Turkey as one of its most important partners in the Middle East and Asia. Xinhua