Turkey, Kyrgyzstan to boost trade ties, underline political cooperation

As part of his official visit to Kyrgyzstan, President Abdullah Gul yesterday met with his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiev in Bishkek. Speaking at a joint press conference afterwards, President Gul voiced satisfaction over the current course of bilateral political relations between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan, adding that the two countries have been supporting each other on international platforms. "I'm pleased to see that the two countries have the same stance on regional and international issues, and place great importance on the stability in Afghanistan," said Gul. “We have a joint will in regards to both our bilateral and multilateral relations. We share the conviction that we attach great importance to the stability of Afghanistan in particular and that we should provide all kinds of assistance regarding this issue." Stating that they had also discussed ways for further improvement of Turkish-Kyrgyz bilateral trade relations, Gul stressed that both countries had necessary will to boost trade ties. To this end, there is a great potential in energy-related business areas such as electricity production and construction of medium scale power plants, Gul added. He also said both countries place great importance on cooperation in education. For his part, Bakiyev reiterated that Kyrgyzstan and Turkey share the same opinion on many regional and international issues, particularly on Afghanistan. Stating that a joint statement by Gul and himself is one of the productive examples of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, Bakiyev said that it confirmed activities to be carried out by Turkey and Kyrgyzstan hand in hand in the coming period. Bakiyev also pointed at the great economic potential between the two countries and called on Turkish businessmen to invest in his country. Prior to the press conference, a cooperation agreement on environmental protection was signed between the two countries. President Gul yesterday also held talks with Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinow and attended a meeting of the Turkish-Kyrgyz Business Council. Addressing the meeting, Gul said that further improvement of economic relations between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan was the most important goal that his visit aimed to reach. "I was pleased to hear that 90 companies from Turkey and 200 companies from Kyrgyzstan held meetings as part of the business council meeting," Gul said. He said, "Everyone is aware of the brotherhood between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. We are on the soil of our ancestors." Also speaking at the meeting, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Chudinov said that bilateral trade volume between the two countries witnessed a remarkable development in the last four years, adding his country's desire to boost trade ties. "The Kyrgyz government calls on Turkish businessmen to invest in areas such as energy, communications, agriculture, tourism and mining," Chudinov said. President Gul also participated in a ground breaking ceremony for Turkey's new embassy building in Bishkek, and was bestowed the title of honorary professor by Jusup Balasagun Kyrgyz National University.