Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chair Ibrahim Kalın will participate in 4+4 Mechanism talks between Türkiye and Uzbekistan on Tuesday. Coupled with the fourth meeting of the Joint Strategic Planning Group between the two countries, Tuesday’s talks will mark a substantial momentum in bilateral ties.

Foreign Ministry sources told Turkish media outlets that Fidan would highlight the excellence achieved in political relations with Uzbekistan at the meeting, and the two sides would discuss improving cooperation, particularly in commerce, economy, energy, transportation, agriculture, tourism, health care and culture.

Türkiye and Uzbekistan reached a trade volume of around $3 billion in 2025, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev set the goal to increase it to $5 billion. Fidan will highlight the need to increase it. He will also underline the importance of developing cooperation in multilateral platforms, particularly in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

The cultural kinship between the two countries, which are part of OTS, was the major driving force of relations. Türkiye was the first country to recognize Uzbekistan’s independence in 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As part of then-President Turgut Özal’s plan to deepen relations with Turkic-speaking Central Asian countries, Ankara sought to reach out to Tashkent further under the Islam Karimov administration. Yet, ties deteriorated over political differences in the following decades. President Erdoğan’s 2016 visit to Uzbekistan, a key country in the region with its location, history, rich cultural values and economic potential, changed the course of relations. Mirziyoyev’s visit to Türkiye in 2017, as the first sitting Uzbek president to make such a visit in 21 years, further reanimated the relations. That same year, the two countries upgraded their relations to a "strategic partnership.”

What followed next were economic committee meetings between the two countries, which had been postponed indefinitely in the past. A High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council was founded in 2018, with its first meeting held in 2020 in Ankara and the second one in 2022 in Tashkent.

Mirziyoyev visited Türkiye twice in 2023, while Erdoğan visited Uzbekistan to attend a summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). Also, in 2023, Ankara hosted the seventh meeting of the economic committee, setting in motion an action plan for the next two years to expand commercial and economic relations.

Fidan is also expected to note the need to sustain efforts to deepen cooperation between Türkiye and Uzbekistan in military and defense industry collaboration, as well as in combating terrorism and organized crime.

Fidan is expected to emphasize that continued work under the Türkiye-Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Trilateral Ministers Mechanism is essential to make the Trans-Caspian East-West Middle Corridor fully operational. He is also expected to exchange views with his Uzbek counterparts on regional and global developments, including Afghanistan and the Palestinian issue.

In the first six months of 2025, Türkiye accounted for about 8.1% of foreign direct investment and credit-based fixed capital investments in Uzbekistan, making it the country’s third-largest investor. Nearly 2,000 Turkish-capital companies operate in Uzbekistan. While the majority of investments are concentrated in the textile sector, Turkish companies have recently expanded into food production, greenhouse farming, construction materials, energy and manufacturing.

Between 1992 and 2024, a total of 2,910 Uzbek students received scholarships under the Türkiye Scholarships program. Scholarships were awarded to 210 Uzbek students in the 2024-2025 academic year and to 187 students for 2025-2026.

The two countries effectively and regularly operate several cooperation mechanisms, including the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC), the Joint Strategic Planning Group, the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) and political consultation mechanisms.

The Türkiye-Uzbekistan HLSCC was established during President Erdoğan’s visit to Uzbekistan in 2018. The most recent HLSCC meeting was held in Ankara on June 6, 2024, during which the two sides signed a Joint Declaration on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, along with 18 agreements and protocols.

To prepare for HLSCC meetings, the Joint Strategic Planning Group was established under the co-chairmanship of the two countries’ foreign ministries. The first Türkiye-Uzbekistan Joint Strategic Planning Group meeting was held in Ankara on Aug. 5-6, 2019.

The first meeting of the 3+3 Mechanism, bringing together the foreign and interior ministers and intelligence chiefs of both countries, was held in Tashkent on Sept. 11-12, 2024. With the inclusion of defense ministers, the format was expanded to 4+4.

Another key trilateral mechanism is the Türkiye-Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Transport Mechanism, established to strengthen energy, transportation and trade connectivity with Central Asia. Its most recent meeting was held in Ankara on Jan. 29, 2025, with the participation of the three countries’ foreign, trade and transport ministers.