This year holds special meaning for Kazakhstan and Turkey. Two decades ago, diplomatic relations were established between these two sister countries, and mutual visits were exchanged at high levels.
Under the strong leadership of our founding father Nursultan Nazarbayev and his political wisdom and prudence, Kazakhstan made a historic decision and dropped ambitions to possess nuclear arms in such a volatile era; with this decision, it showed its political responsibility and awareness. This was Kazakhstan’s first success in international politics and the first step of its march towards further progress in the present time.
Integrating with
international community
Kazakhstan is currently a member of a number of international institutions; it has also served as the founding member of many international and regional organizations and led some serious international initiatives.
CICA, which was proposed by Kazakh President Nazarbayev at the 47th session of the UN General Assembly in 1992, has evolved into a full international institution today. Turkey has also been working to ensure that this institution becomes even more prestigious in the international arena. Last year, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the council on Oct. 5.
Kazakhstan served as the term president of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010; and under President Nazarbayev’s initiative, it also held an OSCE summit in Astana on Dec. 1-2, 2010.
Kazakhstan has also been serving as the term president of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) since 2011. It has been working during the term presidency to prevent the spread of Islamophobia and to consolidate global and regional peace.
Kazakhstan, which organized the Asian Winter Olympic Games in 2011, is also a candidate to host the EXPO-2017 global exhibition in 2017.
Nazarbayev proposed — in a summit of leaders of Turkic-speaking countries in 2006 in Antalya — the creation of a Turkic Council. Subsequent to Kazakh efforts, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey signed a historic document to create the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States in Nakhchivan in 2009. As suggested by its title, the council seeks to improve cultural and economic relations between the Turkic language speaking countries that share a similar history and culture. At the first summit of the Turkic Council held in Almaty on Oct. 20-21, 2011, a number of important decisions were made concerning cooperation between sister countries in the fields of economy, culture and social affairs.
Turkey has always been supportive of Kazakhstan in these international initiatives, making extensive contributions to the materialization of these projects. Turkey has acknowledged Nazarbayev’s efforts to ensure unity and cooperation in the Turkic world, picking him to be the leader of the Turkic world. A statue of our president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was erected in Ankara. This is a significant indicator of the Turkish people’s respect for President Nazarbayev. Turkey and Kazakhstan hold similar visions vis-à-vis leading regional and global problems and the same goals in international politics, as well as reconcilable approaches in international institutions. To this end, it is safe to refer to them as strategic partners that improve their bilateral political and economic ties.
Partnership between
Turkey and Kazakhstan
Since independence, President Nazarbayev has always been keen to improve ties with Turkey, and relations significantly improved when both states signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2009 during Nazarbayev’s visit to Turkey.
Turkey also acknowledges the leadership role of Kazakhstan in Central Asia and views it as an important partner in the region. In particular, these two states have been working to ensure further cooperation in trade and commerce and to attract more investments for the economy of Kazakhstan. Economic cooperation between Turkey and Kazakhstan now encompasses many fields, including energy, transportation, health, labor and social security, construction and contracting, tourism, sports, agriculture, banking, insurance and trade. Our cultural cooperation and partnership is also progressing. A glorious monument to Turkey’s national leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was erected in Astana. This indicates that the Kazakh people have deep respect for the Turkish people’s leader.
There are also successful examples of cooperation in the field of education between the two countries. The International Hoca Ahmet Yesevi Turkish-Kazakh University was opened in Turkistan, Süleyman Demirel University in Almaty and 28 Kazakh-Turkish schools in different parts of the country. In addition, Abay Elementary School was opened in May 2003 during the official visit by Nazarbayev to İstanbul. Currently, more than 3,000 Kazakh students have graduated from Turkish universities, while more than 700 are still enrolled in a college in Turkey.
A new outlook for these ties of brotherhood institutionalized by former Turkish Presidents Turgut Özal and Süleyman Demirel reappeared during the official visit by Kazakh President Nazarbayev to Turkey on Oct. 10-12, 2012. During this visit, visible progress was made in bilateral relations; for the first time in our history, a High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council was held with the participation of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Nazarbayev. On Oct. 12, a large business forum was held in İstanbul, a gala concert for Kazakh Days of Culture was staged and the Golden Man exhibition was held as well. In addition, the Kazakh president met with 15 leading Turkish businessmen to discuss opportunities for mutual investment between the two countries.
To this end, it could be said that this visit is an evaluation of the relations over the last two decades between Turkey and Kazakhstan. There have been many constructive initiatives and efforts to improve bilateral ties before Nazarbayev’s visit. A conference was organized in Bolu on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Kazakh-Turkish relations. At the embassy, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, former Parliament Speaker Hikmet Çetin and former Culture Minister Namık Kemal Zeybek were awarded medals for their contributions to Kazakh-Turkish relations. A reception was held at the State Guest House on the 20th anniversary of the Asian Council, which President Nazarbayev had initiated. At the embassy, an event was organized for the promotion of five volumes of President Nazarbayev’s works.
In Antalya, a ceremony officially opened the Kazakh Consulate. In Kırşehir, a street was named after Nursultan Nazarbayev; a large lecture hall named Kazakhstan was also opened at Ahi Evran University in the same city. On this occasion, a conference was also held. All these activities prove that the Turkish administration and people have extensive love and appreciation for our country.
From a historical perspective, 20 years is not a long time. What has been done in this relatively short period of time is amazing. But there are still many things to do to further the ties of brotherhood between our countries.
*Canseyit Tüymebayev is the Kazakh envoy to Ankara.
