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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was awarded the Order of Friendship by his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the capital Astana on Wednesday.
Erdoğan at a joint news conference said that Ankara will continue to support Kazakhstan’s territorial integrity, stability and peace.
“We will continue to support the stability, peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity of brotherly Kazakhstan, which has a deep historical background and state experience,” Erdoğan added.
Regarding the award, Erdoğan said: “It was really a different surprise for me. On behalf of myself, my family and my nation, I would like to thank (President Tokayev) very much.”
For his part, Tokayev underlined that Turkey is a very important strategic partner of Kazakhstan.
“I highly value President Erdoğan’s contribution to improving cooperation between the two countries,” he said. “On behalf of our people, I would like to thank my brother very much. Turkey’s reputation in the world is high. Your country takes an active role in resolving the global crisis and regional issues.”
The presidents had one-on-one talks and inter-delegation meetings to discuss bilateral relations and international issues.
Erdoğan and Tokayev also co-chaired the fourth meeting of the Türkiye-Kazakhstan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council to enhance political, economic, cultural and defense ties.
Erdoğan said they evaluated “the excellent relations” between the two countries.
He added that Ankara and Astana will continue to work to strengthen connections in the fields of transportation, energy and trade.