During his visit to the Republic of Turkey, the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, was received by the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Kazakh Foreign Minister conveyed the greetings and best wishes to the Turkish leader on behalf of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Mr. Abdrakhmanov emphasize that Kazakhstan notes Recep Erdoğan's role in strengthening the Kazakh-Turkish strategic cooperation. Thanks to joint efforts, the leaders of Kazakhstan and Turkey made a statement to intensify conciliatory processes in the Islamic world. Minister Abdrakhmanov recalled that Astana held the first OIC Summit on Science and Technology in September 2017 during Turkish chairmanship ofthe Organization.

Mr. Erdoğan expressed his confidence that the official visit of President Nazarbayev to Ankara, planned for the summer, will give a great impetus to all-round cooperation between the two countries. He noted the need to further intensify the work of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council chaired by the leaders of the two states. Kazakhstan is Turkey's largest trading partner in Central Asia and, in this regard, President Erdoğan proposed to set a new goal of increasing the trade turnover to $10 billion.

The President of Turkey expressed support for the Astana process on Syria, which, in his opinion, increased the credibility of Kazakhstan onthe world stage. According to Mr. Erdoğan, the guarantor countries will seek to stabilize the situation in Syria, as agreed by the leaders of Turkey, Russia and Iran during the meeting in Ankara on April 4. The Turkish leader also thanked Nursultan Nazarbayev for Kazakhstan's contribution to rendering humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya people.

In Ankara, Kairat Abdrakhmanov also held a meeting with the Speaker of the Turkish Parliament, İsmail Kahraman, during which they considered issues of inter-parliamentary relations and interaction between the two countries in international parliamentary organizations.

The Kazakh Foreign Minister held a roundtable with representatives of major Turkish companies and honorary consuls of Kazakhstan in Turkey. The Minister briefed them on the economic initiatives of President Nazarbayev, described in the State of the Nation Address New Development Opportunities in the Context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Address Five Social Initiatives. According to the Minister, the Government of Kazakhstan is working to strengthen the stability of its legislation, protect foreign investors and improve the conditions for doing business in the country. Kairat Abdrakhmanov drew their attention to the opportunities connected with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the Astana International Financial Centre.

To date, the Turkish business community has invested more than $2 billion in the Kazakh economy, while the volume of Kazakh investments in Turkey is approximately $1 billion. Honorary consulates of Kazakhstan operate in the Turkish provinces of Adana, Bursa, Nevşehir, Mersin and the city of Alanya.

As part of his visit, the Kazakh Foreign Minister also held a meeting with the heads of political centers and observers of the Turkish media, where they exchanged views on the geopolitical situation in Central Asia and the Middle East.