Turkish companies made significant contributions to development of Kazakhstan: Parliament speaker

By Ali Kemal Akan

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AA) - Turkish companies have made significant contributions to the development of Kazakhstan, Türkiye's parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday during his visit to the Central Asian country.

"I would also like to express the interest of Turkish companies in Kazakhstan. Turkish companies made investments here in every field. These made important contributions to the development of Kazakhstan," Kurtulmus said in a meeting with Yerlan Koshanov, the head of Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament, in the capital Astana.

Expressing that Turkish companies are interested in investing in Kazakhstan, Kurtulmus said he sees cooperation between Türkiye and Kazakhstan in the fields of defense, energy, transportation and agriculture as having reached a "remarkable point."

He reiterated Koshanov's remarks that the Turkish defense industry has reached a point where it can be set as an example in the world, further saying that they are ready for all kinds of cooperation with Kazakhstan in the field of the defense industry.

"In addition, our cooperation in the field of energy is developing through the Middle Corridor. In this context, we also attach importance to the shipyard project in the Caspian Sea, which was carried out jointly by the Turkish and Kazakh parties, together with the public and private sectors," he said.

Kurtulmus also said that both countries should develop close cooperation in the fields of education and culture, expressing hope that the legal status regarding the opening of the Yunus Emre Institute in Kazakhstan would be finalized as soon as possible.

He went on to say that unity and solidarity within the Turkic world will both contribute to the development and deepening of the multilateral world order and will greatly support world peace.

"We are entering a period in which cooperation between the Turkic world in every field is much more important than yesterday in establishing this (multi-vector foreign) policy. We have to be together, shoulder to shoulder and walk towards common goals," he added.

For his part, Koshanov said that the Turkish parliamentary speaker's visit would help increase bilateral and inter-parliamentary cooperation between Ankara and Astana.

He further said that they know Türkiye's support for Kazakhstan and that they are pleased to see that their relations of “brotherhood and friendship” are increasing day by day.

* Writing by Burc Eruygur in Istanbul