Turkiye, Kyrgyzstan eye boosting bilateral ties

By Abdullah Yasin Guler

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye's vice president received Kyrgyzstan's interior minister on Tuesday for talks on ways to improve bilateral relations between the two countries.

At their meeting in the capital Ankara, Vice President Fuat Oktay and Kyrgyz Interior Minister Ulan Niyazbekov agreed that the countries would strengthen economic, political, and cultural cooperation, according to a statement by the Turkish Presidential Communications Directorate.

Exchanging views on the actions taken following the 10th Joint Economic Commission meeting between the two countries last year, Oktay and Niyazbekov also evaluated the preparations for an upcoming meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council 2022.

Also on the agenda were issues related to preventing members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group responsible for a 2016 coup attempt in Turkiye, from operating in Kyrgyzstan, as well as experience-sharing efforts between the two countries' security forces.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkiye, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

The Turkish government accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

FETO has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private educational institutions that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group.

Later in the day, Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop also received Niyazbekov for a separate meeting.

Speaking at the reception, Sentop said Ankara and Bishkek have had good relations ever since Kyrgyzstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Underscoring the importance of the High-Level Strategic Council in developing economic relations, Sentop also praised the development of inter-parliamentary ties.

*Writing by Merve Berker