Turkiye, Uzbekistan to hold 2nd high-level cooperation council

Baku, March 29, AZERTAC Turkiye and Uzbekistan will hold the second high-level strategic cooperation council during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s two-day visit to the capital Tashkent on Tuesday, according to Daily Sabah. Erdoğan is visiting the country upon the invitation of Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and will discuss all aspects of bilateral ties, cooperation and steps to deepen relations. Apart from bilateral ties, the two leaders will also address regional and international issues. Apart from bilateral ties, the two leaders will also address regional and international issues. Diplomatic ties between the two countries were established on March 4, 1992, months after Uzbekistan declared its independence on Aug. 31, 1991. Tashkent and Ankara marked three decades of diplomatic relations on March 4. Turkiye was also the first country to recognize Uzbekistan's independence on Dec. 16, 1991. Uzbekistan-Turkiye relations were raised to the level of strategic partnership in 2017 as a result of the close friendship and political will between the countries' presidents. The same year, officials from the two nations also held a long-stalled Joint Economic Commission meeting and established the Turkey-Uzbekistan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in 2018. Ankara hosted the first meeting of this council in 2020. The bilateral trade volume, which was over $1.2 billion in 2016, reached $2.1 billion in 2020 and exceeded $3.6 billion in 2021. Turkey is among Uzbekistan's top five trade partners and its trade volume is expected to reach $5 billion this year. Uzbekistan also officially joined the Organization of Turkic States in 2019 and is expected to host the annual summit on Nov. 11 this year.