ANKARA 

The Turkish president on Wednesday received the Kazakh foreign minister in the capital Ankara.

The meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kazakhstan’s Mukhtar Tleuberdi was held behind closed doors at the presidential complex.

Earlier in the day, Tleuberdi, who is also a deputy prime minister, met with Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay.

Oktay celebrated the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence and said the two countries should further enhance bilateral trade relations.

Highlighting the high investment potential, Oktay said the countries can cooperate in the areas of defense, medicine, information technologies and energy.

The Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council) is an umbrella institution, Oktay said, reminding that its informal meeting is planned to be held on March 31.

The council was established in 2009 as an intergovernmental organization, with an overarching aim of promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking states.

The council consists of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan as member countries and Hungary as an observer state.

For his part, Tleuberdi expressed pleasure over Erdogan’s expected attendance at the upcoming meeting of the council.

Noting that Kazakhstan has rich underground resources and Turkey has the technological infrastructure, he said boosting cooperation in these areas would benefit both countries.

He said the Joint Economic Commission is a good opportunity in this regard.

Prior to his meeting with Erdogan and Oktay, Tleuberdi also met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

*Contributions and writing by Sena Guler