President Erdoğan praised the growing Turkish investments in Uzbekistan, expressing his commitment to encouraging further business ventures. "We are pleased that Turkish investments in Uzbekistan are increasing day by day. We will continue to encourage our businesspeople to enhance their investments in Uzbekistan and cultivate bonds that would deepen our partnership," he stated.

Reflecting on the establishment of the Türkiye-Uzbekistan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in 2018, Erdoğan highlighted the successful Third Meeting of the Council. "In 2022, we upgraded our relations to the ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ level. Today, we successfully held the Third Meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council," he noted.

Erdoğan expressed optimism about achieving a $5 billion trade volume target between Türkiye and Uzbekistan. "We discussed the concrete steps we could take in areas such as trade, agriculture, transportation, energy, culture, education, and defense industry. We have already started to take necessary steps to rapidly implement the 107-point Action Plan signed at the end of the Seventh Term Meeting of the Türkiye-Uzbekistan Intergovernmental Mixed Economic Commission," he said.

Erdoğan commended Uzbekistan's participation in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and praised President Mirziyoyev's leadership. "Uzbekistan’s participation in 2019 further strengthened our Unity of Family under the OTS. I would like to thank Mr. Mirziyoyev for his extremely constructive role within the OTS," he emphasized.

Addressing the Gaza crisis, Erdoğan acknowledged the shared perspective between Türkiye and Uzbekistan. "We view the Palestine issue from the same perspective as Uzbekistan. We reiterate our call to stop the oppression targeting innocent people in Gaza," he said. Erdoğan also urged the international community to take immediate action to establish a ceasefire and hold those responsible for the violence accountable.

Erdoğan lauded President Mirziyoyev's transformative leadership in Uzbekistan. "My treasured brother Mirziyoyev has turned Uzbekistan into a center of attraction in its region with his visionary leadership," he stated, highlighting the success of the 'New Uzbekistan' and 'Third Renaissance' projects.

Erdoğan expressed deep gratitude for Uzbekistan's support following the February 6 earthquakes in Türkiye. "We always remember with gratitude the solidarity Mr. President and the Uzbek people displayed with our country. The 306 post-quake houses Uzbekistan is building in Hatay embody our eternal brotherhood," he said.

Concluding his remarks, President Erdoğan announced that President Mirziyoyev would be decorated with the Order of State for his contributions to Turkish-Uzbek brotherhood. "This important visit will further strengthen our cooperation. I extend my thanks to my august brother Mr. Mirziyoyev and his delegation for their visit," he stated.

The press conference underscored the deepening ties between Türkiye and Uzbekistan and the commitment of both nations to fostering a robust partnership across various sectors. (ILKHA)