Turkish, Uzbek presidents discuss defense, trade cooperation in Turkistan

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met 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 bilateral relations, as well as regional and global issues, according to a statement by the directorate on 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 added that 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 was also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Following the presidential meeting, Fidan attended the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting within the framework of the OTS Informal Summit.