Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) will start scheduled flights from Istanbul to Samarkand starting from March 16, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced late Wednesday.

Following the bilateral and inter-delegation talks at the Presidential Palace, Erdoğan held a joint press conference with Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who visited Turkey for the first time in 20 years at the presidential level.

"I want to give you more good news," President Erdoğan said during the meeting. "THY will start scheduled flights from Istanbul to Samarkand starting from March 16. Thus, both fellow countries will have the opportunity to get much closer together as a society."

Addressing President Miziyoyev, who asked the press members to come to Uzbekistan, THY General Manager İlker Aycı said, "As THY, we will take [them] to visit Uzbekistan."

Also giving a statement for THY, Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said, "We need to increase the flight frequency of THY to China and add new destinations in the country. We carry on our talks on this issue."