Turkish President Erdogan calls Nursultan Nazarbayev 'Aksakal of Turkic world'
"We have held the 3rd Session of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. It is on this occasion we have met today. I would like to express my vast satisfaction with meeting and receiving here the highly esteemed President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Once again I would like to welcome the respected Aksakal of the Turkic world," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said making the joint press statement.
The President of Turkey expressed his satisfaction with the large-scale negotiations that made it possible to comprehensively discuss all the issues.
"Relations between Turkey and Kazakhstan are developing, and we will soon make all the efforts needed to improve the level of our relations in all areas. (...) I would like to express my appreciation and respect to the President, and I hope we will give greater impetus to our relations for the further development of prosperity of Turkey and Kazakhstan," the Turkish Leader concluded.
In turn, Nursultan Nazarbayev confirmed the cordial relationship between the two presidents by calling his counterpart a "brother". "The fact that you call me the 'Aksakal' of the Turkic world is very pleasant," Nursultan Nazarbayev noted.
The Kazakh Leader described how Turkish brothers have treated Kazakhstan since it gained independence.
"On December 16, 1991, our Parliament declared the independence of Kazakhstan. It was at 4 p.m. Within two hours, the then President of Turkey, Turgut Ozal, called me and said that he supports our independence. He was the first president who voiced support. And we will continue to support each other further," Head of State Nursultan Nazarbayev assured.
As Kazinform earlier reported, a number of agreements were signed within the framework of the official visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Turkey.