Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday underlined the importance of the Caspian-transit East-West Middle Corridor, calling it the "modern-day equivalent of the Silk Road."
During a press conference in Kazakhstan, Erdoğan said the corridor's importance is being better understood with each passing day.
Noting that they had "successfully" held the Sixth Meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council and signed numerous documents, the Turkish president said that the meeting with Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and his delegation addressed cooperation in areas such as trade, transportation, energy, health, mining, culture, education, technology, and the defense industry.
"On the occasion of the Türkiye-Kazakhstan Business Forum, which we will address together with Mr. Tokayev, we will hopefully witness new areas of cooperation between our businesspeople. Today, we also discussed projects that will further advance our military and defense industry cooperation, which has a multiplier effect on our trade and investment relations. I wish them success in advance," he added.
He vowed that Ankara will continue promoting the corridor with Kazakhstan and other partners for cargo shipments and transporting energy resources to the West.
"We wish to transport larger volumes of oil from Kazakhstan, one of the world's leading crude oil exporters, to global markets via our country," he added.
Erdoğan said they are determined to build new bridges stretching from the Eastern Mediterranean to the depths of Central Asia, in line with the motto "unity in language, thought, and action."
"We regard it as our shared responsibility to pass on the common cultural treasures of the Turkic world, as well as the ideas, works, and spiritual legacies of great figures, to future generations," he further said.
Erdoğan announced that work has begun for the Turkish Maarif Foundation to open one school each in Astana and Almaty, with the support of the Kazakh president.
Stressing that the meeting also addressed regional and global issues, Erdoğan welcomed the representation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as an observer at the Organization of Turkic States summit, which will be held on Friday.
Erdoğan said Ankara witnessed Kazakhstan's heartfelt bond with Türkiye following the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes that hit the country's southern and southeastern regions.
"Today, I am also very pleased to inaugurate, together with my dear brother, the primary school built by Kazakhstan in the Nurdagi district of (Türkiye's southeastern province of) Gaziantep. I sincerely believe that the children who will be educated at this school, which we have named after Pir-i Turkistan Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, will carry our friendship to future generations," he said.
Erdoğan also expressed his sincere thanks to Tokayev for presenting him with the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Order, saying he would be honored to carry the order as a strong symbol of the unshakable brotherhood between the two countries.
Speaking later at the closing meeting of the Türkiye-Kazakhstan Business Forum in Astana, Erdoğan said Türkiye and Kazakhstan enjoy strong cooperation in the defense industry, and reaffirmed their intention to deepen ties through new projects, including joint production initiatives.
"We have very good cooperation with Kazakhstan in the field of the defense industry. Today, we confirmed our will to advance this cooperation with new projects, including joint production," Erdoğan said.
He also said bilateral trade volume had approached $10 billion by the end of last year, thanks to the "strong partnership based on mutual trust" between the two countries.
"We are not content with this. We are determinedly continuing our efforts to sustainably and balanced reach our target of $15 billion," he said.
Erdoğan said Türkiye and Kazakhstan signed 13 agreements earlier in the day aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation and voiced confidence that the business forum would contribute to further developing economic and commercial ties.
He said Kazakhstan had become Türkiye's largest trading partner in the Turkic world in 2025, noting that nearly 5,500 Turkish companies operate in the country with investments reaching $6 billion across sectors including construction, finance, tourism and information technology.
According to Erdoğan, Turkish contractors have undertaken more than 500 projects across Kazakhstan worth nearly $30 billion.
The Turkish president also said more than 750 Kazakh companies continue operating in Türkiye with investments approaching $2 billion.
Highlighting regional economic challenges, including energy supply security, artificial intelligence transformation and disruptions in supply chains, Erdoğan stressed the growing importance of international cooperation.
He also praised Kazakhstan's advances in artificial intelligence under the leadership of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and welcomed the decision to make artificial intelligence and digital development the main theme of the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States to be held Friday in Turkistan.
On energy cooperation, Erdoğan said the two sides discussed opportunities ranging from hydrocarbon production and transportation to the exploration of critical minerals.
"As Türkiye, we are a country that has secured its energy supply security by ensuring resource diversification years ago. We wish to transport larger volumes of oil from Kazakhstan to global markets via our country," he said.
He added that Türkiye is working to revive the Caspian-transit East-West Middle Corridor by integrating railway connections, port infrastructure and digital customs systems.
"Our goal remains to bring the Eurasian region into a more competitive position in the global economy while bringing our countries closer together," Erdoğan said.
