Photo: AFP/Anadolu/TUR Presidency/Mustafa Kamaci
Szabolcs Veres
28/09/2025 18:33
On July 29, 2025, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, paid an official visit to Türkiye. During this visit, he engaged in high-level discussions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. These discussions focused on ways to strengthen the Kazakh-Turkish strategic partnership and its respective priorities.
The historical and cultural underpinnings of the fraternal relations between Kazakhstan and Türkiye are robust and deep-rooted. Türkiye was among the first to support Kazakhstan when it declared its independence: On December 16, 1991, the United States was the first to recognize Kazakhstan's independence, and on March 2, 1992, diplomatic relations were formally established between the two nations. In October of that same year, the Kazakh embassy in Türkiye was inaugurated. Currently, Astana operates consulates and honorary consulates in several major Turkish cities, including Antalya, Denizli, Alanya, Bursa, Bitlis, Hatay, Konya, and Mersin.
Moreover, the Turkish identity, which currently serves as the foundational principle of the Organization of Turkic States, representing the unifying force of the Turkic world, is of particular significance in the context of the bilateral relationship between the two nations. The development of interstate relations between Kazakhstan and Türkiye was significantly influenced by the cooperative efforts within the framework of this organization. Consequently, Türkiye has emerged as one of Kazakhstan's primary foreign policy partners, with both nations sharing profound strategic interests rooted in their common cultural and historical memory.
Following the formal declaration of independence, the Presidents of Kazakhstan have made numerous official and working visits to Türkiye. Since 2019 alone, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has engaged in 14 bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, most recently in May 2025 in Budapest during the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States.
The regular political dialogue between the two countries has resulted in a high level of intergovernmental cooperation. The international legal basis for cooperation between Kazakhstan and Türkiye is extensive. In 2009, the two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement, followed in 2012 by an agreement on the establishment of a high-level strategic cooperation council. In 2022, the parties signed a joint declaration on an expanded strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and Türkiye.
Commercial momentum and record investments
At present, Türkiye is among the leading investors in Kazakhstan. At present, the two countries are pursuing an objective of increasing bilateral trade turnover to approximately USD 10 billion. Despite the impediments posed by recent geopolitical events (e.g., the Russian-Ukrainian war, the conflict in the Middle East) that have delayed the realization of this objective beyond the initially established deadline, statistical data from recent years demonstrate a consistent upward trend.
At present, bilateral trade and economic relations between Kazakhstan and Türkiye occupy a prominent place in the foreign economic policy of both countries. Both countries regard each other as reliable partners in implementing complex economic projects, a circumstance attributable to the convergence of strategic interests and a pragmatic approach to expanding foreign economic activities. According to statistics from the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the volume of mutual trade reached USD 6.3 billion by the end of 2024, which is a 54% increase compared to the 2022 figures. According to recent data, Kazakhstan's exports to Türkiye amounted to USD 5.2 billion, while the volume of Turkish imports to Kazakhstan was recorded at USD 1.1 billion.
The export structure of Kazakhstan to Türkiye is characterized by a preponderance of raw material supplies. The predominant share is attributable to crude oil and petroleum products, as well as ferrous and non-ferrous metals, uranium products, and cereals. Conversely, Türkiye exports a diverse array of goods to Kazakhstan, encompassing machinery and equipment, construction materials, textiles, foodstuffs, and medicines. This trade data underscores the multifaceted nature of the bilateral economic relationship between the two nations.
An analysis of the foreign trade dynamics between Kazakhstan and Türkiye over the past five years reveals a consistent increase in trade turnover. The observed rise in trade volume can be attributed, in part, to the broadening of the array of exported and imported goods, and, in another part, to heightened investment cooperation, thereby substantiating the escalating degree of shared economic interests.
The following joint projects have been identified:
A pivotal component of the bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and Türkiye pertains to the implementation of joint infrastructure projects. Turkish companies have assumed an active role in the construction and modernization of major transport infrastructure facilities in Kazakhstan. These include railway and highway networks, as well as port complexes on the Caspian Sea. A notable illustration of such collaborative endeavors is the construction of the Kuryk seaport, which has emerged as a pivotal component of Kazakhstan's transit and logistics infrastructure, offering access to international transport corridors and enhancing the efficient movement of Kazakh freight.
Moreover, energy cooperation has historically occupied a prominent place in the structure of bilateral Kazakh-Turkish economic relations. Kazakhstan possesses substantial reserves of hydrocarbons and uranium, which engender propitious conditions for augmenting energy exports as a component of a diversified foreign economic strategy. Türkiye, which functions as a regional transit hub, has expressed a strong interest in increasing its imports of Kazakh oil and natural gas. Of particular importance is Kazakhstan's potential integration into the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, which provides direct access to the European energy market via routes bypassing Russian territory.
In the domain of transport and logistics, the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also referred to as the Middle Corridor, holds significant strategic importance. This particular transit route has been instrumental in facilitating the efficient and economical transportation of goods from China to Europe, traversing key regions such as Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye. The involvement of both nations in the modernization of the corridor has been demonstrated to result in a reduction of transport times and logistics expenditures. Consequently, the TITR presents an alternative to conventional northern transport routes, thereby augmenting Kazakhstan's capacity to diversify its foreign economic relations.
In addition to cooperation in the energy and transport logistics sectors, the agricultural sector has significant potential for developing bilateral economic relations between Kazakhstan and Türkiye. Kazakhstan possesses extensive land resources with considerable agricultural potential, thereby engendering optimal conditions for augmenting the production volume of grain, meat, and dairy products. Given Türkiye's substantial experience in the processing of agricultural products and the efficacy of its strategies for promoting them on international markets, it is poised to become a significant partner in the modernization of Kazakhstan's agricultural sector and the enhancement of its competitiveness. The implementation of joint agricultural investment projects and the introduction of modern Turkish technologies in the processing and logistics of agricultural products have the potential to stimulate the growth of Kazakhstan's export potential and contribute to the strengthening of the country's food security.
The author is a researcher at the Eurasia Center
