Turkish, Uzbek presidents discuss defense, trade cooperation in Turkistan

Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in the Kazakh city of Turkistan on Friday on the sidelines of the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), the Turkish Communications Directorate said.

The leaders discussed Türkiye-Uzbekistan bilateral relations, as well as regional and global issues, according to a statement shared by the directorate on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

During the meeting, Erdogan said the two countries would continue efforts to enhance cooperation in all fields, particularly in the defense industry and trade, the statement added.

Erdogan also said he believes Türkiye and Uzbekistan will increase solidarity on international platforms, and invited Mirziyoyev to the OTS Summit and COP31, both to be held in Türkiye.

The closed-door meeting, held at the hotel where Erdogan was staying, was also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.