– Drawing on their shared history and cultural affinity, Kazakhstan and Türkiye have built a strong, long-standing strategic partnership. How would you assess the current stage of relations between the two countries?
– Kazakhstan and Türkiye share a special relationship based on our common history, the cultural and spiritual affinity between our peoples, and mutual respect. For Kazakhstan, the fact that Türkiye was the first country to recognize our independence holds symbolic significance. Since then, our relations have developed steadily and have now reached the level of an expanded strategic partnership.
I would describe the current stage as one of the most dynamic in the entire history of our bilateral relations. The heads of our states maintain a regular and trust-based political dialogue, setting a strong pace for cooperation in virtually every area.
An important milestone was the state visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Kazakhstan on May 13–15, 2026. The sixth meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council was held in Astana, resulting in a broad range of agreements and the signing of 13 documents.
The main political outcome of the visit was the signing of the Declaration on Eternal Friendship and Expanded Strategic Partnership. The title of the document itself reflects the nature of our relations: Kazakhstan and Türkiye regard each other not only as important political and economic partners, but also as brotherly states committed to long-term joint development.
It is particularly important that the high level of political dialogue is increasingly being translated into concrete economic projects. Trade and investment, transport and logistics, energy, agriculture, industrial cooperation, digitalisation, education, and culture are all developing rapidly.
Our cooperation within the Organization of Turkic States also occupies a prominent place. It is symbolic that, following the talks in Astana, the Turkish President attended the informal summit of the OTS in Turkistan, the spiritual capital of the Turkic world.
It is therefore important not only to maintain the high level of relations already achieved, but also to give them new practical substance through joint ventures, investment and technology projects, the development of transport corridors, and initiatives in education and culture that will deliver tangible benefits to the citizens of our countries.
– In May 2026, the heads of state signed the Declaration on Eternal Friendship and Expanded Strategic Partnership. What practical substance does this document contain, and which areas have been identified as priorities?
– The Declaration on Eternal Friendship and Expanded Strategic Partnership is of fundamental importance because it enshrines the long-term nature of Kazakhstan–Türkiye relations and sets the course for our future cooperation.
However, it is important to us that the strategic partnership be measured not only by political statements, but also by concrete results. That is why the agreements reached during the May visit cover a broad range of practical areas, from investment and industry to transport, energy, digitalisation, education, and culture.
One significant outcome was the signing of a new Agreement on the Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments. It is intended to provide additional guarantees for investors from both countries and create more favorable conditions for implementing long-term projects.
There is considerable potential in transport and logistics. Kazakhstan and Türkiye are interested in further developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or Middle Corridor, improving port and railway infrastructure, advancing the digitalisation of freight transport, and simplifying cargo clearance procedures.
I would also like to highlight new areas of cooperation. These include digitalisation, artificial intelligence, financial technologies, and cooperation between the Astana International Financial Centre and the Istanbul Financial Center. The development of industrial and technological cooperation, including the establishment of joint production facilities, is also promising.
– Kazakhstan and Türkiye intend to increase bilateral trade turnover to $15 billion. Which sectors can help achieve this target, and what issues still need to be addressed to expand trade?
– The target set by the heads of state to increase bilateral trade to $15 billion is ambitious, but fully consistent with the potential of the two countries.
According to Kazakhstan’s statistics, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Türkiye exceeded $5.4 billion in 2025, an increase of 8.8%. Kazakhstan’s exports rose by 17.7% to approximately $3.9 billion. Türkiye consistently ranks among Kazakhstan’s five largest trading partners.
Trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Türkiye amounted to $4.7 billion in January–July 2026, up 62.4% from the same period of the previous year ($2.9 billion). Exports to Türkiye nearly doubled in January–July 2026, rising by 91.7% to $3.9 billion.
However, simply increasing traditional trade volumes will not be enough to achieve the new target. The composition of trade must be substantially diversified.
We see significant potential in the manufacturing industry, petrochemicals, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, construction materials production, pharmaceuticals, and the food industry.
One of the most promising areas is the agro-industrial sector. In 2025 alone, trade turnover in agricultural products between our countries grew by more than a quarter, approaching $360 million. Kazakhstan has strong potential to increase supplies of grains, legumes, oilseeds, and forage crops. Türkiye, in turn, possesses considerable technology and expertise in agricultural processing. This is precisely why the heads of state instructed that a separate roadmap be prepared to expand trade in agro-industrial products.
However, I believe the most promising model is a transition from simple trade to industrial cooperation. Kazakhstan possesses resources, production sites, and an advantageous geographical location. Türkiye has substantial industrial expertise, technology, and entrepreneurial experience. Combining these advantages will make it possible to establish joint ventures whose products can be supplied not only to our domestic markets but also to third countries.
Of course, practical issues remain. We must continue working on the simplification of customs procedures, digitalisation of the permitting system, development of transport infrastructure, expansion of route capacity, and resolution of certain veterinary and phytosanitary issues.
– Which sectors of Kazakhstan’s economy are currently of greatest interest to Turkish investors, and which joint projects have the greatest potential?
– Turkish businesses know Kazakhstan well and have been operating actively in our country for many years. Cumulative Turkish investment amounts to approximately $6 billion.
Today, more than 4,000 companies with Turkish capital are successfully operating in Kazakhstan, while total investment from Türkiye has already exceeded $6 billion. These figures clearly reflect the enduring nature of Kazakhstan–Türkiye investment cooperation and Turkish businesses’ growing interest in the Kazakh market.
In 2025 alone, direct investment from Türkiye in Kazakhstan’s economy amounted to $398 million. To date, 98 investment projects involving Turkish capital, with a total value of approximately $6 billion, have been implemented in Kazakhstan. Another 53 projects worth about $5.7 billion are at various stages of implementation.
Turkish companies have traditionally maintained a broad presence in construction, trade, services, hospitality, and construction materials production. Today, however, we are seeing a qualitative shift in investment interest. A growing number of Turkish companies view Kazakhstan as a base for industrial production and access to the broader markets of Central Asia and the EAEU.
The most promising areas are the manufacturing industry, agro-industrial sector, energy and petrochemicals, transport and logistics, mining industry and critical minerals, healthcare, digital technologies, and financial services.
Agriculture offers substantial opportunities. Kazakhstan is interested not merely in exporting raw materials but in their deep processing domestically. Turkish businesses possess considerable expertise in the food industry, agricultural technologies, irrigation systems, and the storage and processing of agricultural products.
We devote particular attention to the digital economy. Kazakhstan is actively developing artificial intelligence, fintech, electronic government services, and innovation infrastructure. Türkiye also has a strong technological and engineering base. I am convinced that this area can become one of the new drivers of our partnership.
The quality of investment is important to Kazakhstan. We are interested in projects that provide for the localisation of production, technology transfer, workforce training, job creation, and the export of products to foreign markets. It is precisely along these lines that we intend to develop investment cooperation with our Turkish partners.
At the same time, investment cooperation between the two countries is becoming increasingly reciprocal. Kazakh businesses are also steadily expanding their presence in the Turkish market: total Kazakh investment in Türkiye has reached $2.4 billion.
One of the most notable examples was Kaspi.kz’s acquisition of a controlling stake in the Turkish platform Hepsiburada in 2025. The Kazakh company initially acquired 65.41% of its shares and subsequently increased its stake to 86.74%.
Another major transaction was Freedom Holding Corp.’s acquisition of 99.32% of the shares of Turkish Bank A.Ş. In 2026, the transaction received the necessary approvals from the Turkish regulators—the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) and the Turkish Competition Authority.
Thus, the investment partnership between Kazakhstan and Türkiye is now reaching a qualitatively new level. Alongside the steady inflow of Turkish capital into Kazakhstan, a reciprocal trend is becoming increasingly evident: the active expansion of Kazakh businesses in Türkiye, which strengthens the interconnectedness of the two countries’ economies and creates new opportunities for implementing joint projects.
– What role can the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), which connects the markets of Asia and Europe, play in the further development of Kazakhstan–Türkiye cooperation?
– The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, is becoming strategically important across Eurasia.
Looking at the map, Kazakhstan and Türkiye are natural links in a single transport network. Kazakhstan provides freight flows from China and Central Asia with access to the Caspian Sea; from there, the route passes through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Türkiye, and onward to European markets.
Over the past seven years, freight traffic along the Trans-Caspian route has increased approximately fivefold, from 0.8 million metric tons to 4.5 million metric tons. By the end of 2025, container traffic amounted to around 77,000 TEU. The goal is to increase this figure to 300,000 TEU by 2029.
For us, however, the Middle Corridor is much more than a railway or maritime transport across the Caspian Sea. We view it as a fully fledged economic corridor.
To realize its potential, railways, Caspian ports, terminals, logistics centers, road infrastructure, and border crossings must be developed in a coordinated manner. Equally important are the digitalization of customs procedures, the introduction of a unified electronic document management system, and shorter freight transit times.
Kazakhstan is already carrying out extensive work to expand its transport infrastructure and port capacity on the Caspian Sea. Türkiye, for its part, has a modern transport and logistics system and provides direct access to Europe and the Mediterranean.
Therefore, our countries have an objective interest in jointly developing this route.
In the future, industrial zones, logistics hubs, and centers for processing, trade, and e-commerce may emerge along the Middle Corridor. In other words, this is no longer only about transit, but also about creating a new value chain between Asia and Europe.
– Türkiye celebrates Republic Day on October 29. Which of the country’s achievements over more than a century of republican development do you consider the most significant, and how have they influenced its present-day role in the world?
– First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the brotherly Turkish people on Republic Day.
The proclamation of the Republic of Türkiye on October 29, 1923, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a turning point in the country’s history. Over the past century, Türkiye has developed extensively as a state, an economy, and a society.
In my view, one of its principal achievements has been the establishment of modern state institutions and the country’s large-scale modernization. The development of education and science, industry, transport infrastructure, and entrepreneurship laid the foundations of the modern Turkish economy.
Today, Türkiye has a diversified industrial base and substantial expertise in mechanical engineering, automotive manufacturing, construction, energy, the textile and food industries, tourism, defense technologies, and digital technologies.
The country’s large-scale infrastructure development also deserves particular attention. Modern airports, highways, bridges, railways, seaports, and energy infrastructure have significantly enhanced Türkiye’s role as one of the key transport and economic hubs between Europe and Asia.
For Kazakhstan, the consistent development of cooperation among the Turkic states is of particular importance. Kazakhstan and Türkiye helped lay the foundations of the modern architecture of Turkic cooperation and today make a substantial contribution to strengthening multilateral cooperation within the Organization of Turkic States.
At the same time, the modern partnership between Kazakhstan and Türkiye is focused above all on the future. We are interested in technological cooperation and joint investment, new transport routes, the advancement of education and science, expanded opportunities for young people, and stronger economic ties.
I am convinced that Kazakhstan and Türkiye have every opportunity to elevate our partnership to an even higher level in the new century of the Republic of Türkiye and to contribute jointly to strengthening cooperation, stability, and prosperity throughout Eurasia.
