President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday stressed strong cooperation in the defense industry after Türkiye and Kazakhstan signed a deal to establish a joint venture for the manufacturing of drones.
Erdoğan's remarks came during a business forum in Astana, where he arrived for an official visit and the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).
Earlier on Thursday, Erdoğan and his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, oversaw the signing of 13 agreements spanning investment, energy, defense, education, media and infrastructure.
Among them was an agreement to set up a joint venture for the production and maintenance of drones, the countries said.
The deal covers Anka unmanned aerial vehicles developed by the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). Kazakhstan is already operating several Anka drones, for which it signed a contract back in late 2021. Deliveries were completed by 2023.
Türkiye is among the world's top unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers and exporters. Its drones gained prominence globally after being used by Ukraine's military against Russian forces as well as in campaigns in Azerbaijan and North Africa.
Erdoğan said Türkiye and Kazakhstan enjoy strong cooperation in the defense industry and reaffirmed their intention to deepen ties through new projects, including joint production initiatives.
"We have very good cooperation with Kazakhstan in the field of the defense industry. Today, we confirmed our will to advance this cooperation with new projects, including joint production," he told the forum.
Kazakhstan was Türkiye's largest trading partner in the Turkic world in 2025, when their bilateral trade approached $10 billion, but Erdoğan said that was not enough.
"We are not content with this. We are determinedly continuing our efforts to sustainably and balanced reach our target of $15 billion," he said.
Nearly 5,500 Turkish companies operate in Kazakhstan with investments reaching $6 billion across sectors, including construction, finance, tourism and information technology.
According to Erdoğan, Turkish contractors have undertaken more than 500 projects across Kazakhstan worth nearly $30 billion.
The Turkish president also said more than 750 Kazakh companies are operating in Türkiye with investments approaching $2 billion.
Later on Thursday, Erdoğan visited Alem.AI, a major international artificial intelligence center, alongside Tokayev.
At the forum, Erdoğan praised Kazakhstan's advances in AI and welcomed the decision to make artificial intelligence and digital development the main theme of the OTS summit due to be held on Friday in the southern Kazakh city of Turkistan.
Highlighting regional economic challenges, including energy supply security, AI transformation and disruptions in supply chains, the Turkish leader stressed the growing importance of international cooperation.
On the energy partnership, Erdoğan said the two sides discussed opportunities ranging from hydrocarbon production and transportation to the exploration of critical minerals.
"We are a country that has secured its energy supply security by ensuring resource diversification years ago. We wish to transport larger volumes of oil from Kazakhstan to global markets via our country," he said.
Earlier on Thursday, Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and KazMunayGas signed two separate agreements, including a cooperation deal on oil field services and a memorandum on the joint development of oil and gas projects.
Erdoğan added that Türkiye is working to revive the Caspian-transit East-West Middle Corridor by integrating railway connections, port infrastructure and digital customs systems.
"Our goal remains to bring the Eurasian region into a more competitive position in the global economy while bringing our countries closer together," Erdoğan said.
