(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) 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, reports citing
.
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.