UPDATE - Turkey, Kazakhstan seek to boost trade ties

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM TURKEY'S FOREIGN MINISTER

By Faruk Zorlu, Aliia Raimbekova and Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey and Kazakhstan will work together to improve relations in all fields, Turkey's foreign minister said Friday.

The two countries should increase their mutual investments especially in the sectors of transportation, culture and education, Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint news conference with his Kazakh counterpart Beibut Atamkulov in Nursultan (formerly Astana).

The two countries have a significant potential to further strengthen economic cooperation, Cavusoglu noted.

The current bilateral trade volume is $3 billion, he said, adding Turkey and Kazakhstan should continue working together to increase this figure.

His remarks came after meeting of the 5th Turkey-Kazakhstan Joint Strategic Planning Group where the two countries discussed bilateral relations especially in economy and regional issues.

The meeting of the Joint Economic Commission between Turkey and Kazakhstan should be held as soon as possible in the coming period, Cavusoglu said.

Also, touching upon the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) terrorist organization and its structuring in many countries, he underlined after the July 15 coup attempt, the first presidential visit to Turkey was paid by then Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, which martyred 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.

Atamkulov said bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and Turkey increased by 50% to $632 million in the first quarter of this year when compared to the same period last year.

He stressed the need to increase bilateral trade volume to $5 billion, which was determined by presidents of both countries.

Later, Cavusoglu thanked Nazarbayev for the his efforts to unite Turkic world and his vision which lead the establishment of the Turkic Council.

It was unanimously decided that Nazarbayev will be the honorary president of the Turkic Council for life due to his contributions to the council, said Cavusoglu.