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Turkey's political and economic relations with the Central Asian States began at the end of 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Turkey, had strong historical, cultural and linguistic bonds with the Central Asian Republics. It was therefore natural that mutual interest as well as political will for closer links with these countries already existed.

Turkey's approach to the newly independent states in Central Asia was to develop friendly relations with all of them, on the basis of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and mutual benefit. With this understanding in mind, Turkey was the first country to recognize these independent states without any discrimination. Starting from the end of 1991, the relations between the Central Asian States and Turkey rapidly developed.

By early 1992 Turkey established Embassies in all the Central Asian States. An economic, cultural and technical organization, namely Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TICA) was founded in January 1992 in order to coordinate and direct the assistance provided by Turkey more efficiently. The Agency which is entrusted with the coordination of Turkish assistance on the basis of projects, has undertaken to develop projects and programmes in sectors such as agriculture, education, small and medium enterprises, energy, tourism, civil aviation, and insurance.

Turkey's policy towards the independent states in Central Asia aimed to contribute to their efforts to overcome severe economic problems and to carry out their transition to democracy and market economy. In accordance with its policies, Turkey has continued, within her capacity, to support and encourage the Central Asian Republics towards their goal to strenghtening their economies which has also contributed to their enduring efforts to foster democratic and pluralistic societies.

With these thoughts, Turkey has given its support and has provided the necessary assistance to the Central Asian States in view to help them to become a member of the family of nations and for their integration in the international economy. In this respect, Turkey has supported these countries on their way to become members of international organizations such as the United Nations, OSCE. Turkey has also played a positive role as these countries became partners in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme.

Keeping in mind that every country needs well-educated experts to ensure the economic progress of their countries, Turkey has also provided a large scholarship programme to students from Central Asian Republics. Within this framework, around 7000 students are studying in Turkey.

Turkey is also cooperating with the Central Asian Republics in setting up vocational schools and high schools. The schools which are supplied with equipment, training materials and teachers, envisage, along with the scholarship programme, to provide qualified labour and foreign-language speaking personnel.

Since 1991, over 350 treaties and agreements have been signed between Turkey and the Central Asian Republics. Turkey is viewing the Central Asian States as partners on equal terms and is developing its relations with those countries to the benefit of both sides as well to the benefit of the whole region. Within this framework, Turkey's support and assistance to these countries continues.

As for transport and communications, with a view to strenghtening the relations between Turkey and the Central Asian Republics on every field, Turkish Government attaches high priority to transport, telecommunications and television broadcast.

One of the examples of the practical assistance rendered by Turkey to the Central Asian Republics in the field of telecommunications was that the Turkish Telecommunication Company PTT donated switchboards as well as satelite link stations to the Central Asian Countries to create the necessary communication lines to provide their radio link and satellite connection for their access to the international markets, which are of a vital importance for market economies.

Air links have been established to most of the Central Asian republics since 1992. In this context, it should be underlined that the easiest and most comfortable way to fly from Europe to those countries is still via Istanbul.

Since the summer of 1992, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation is transmitting via satellite TV programs to Central Asia.

Some information about the activities of the Turkish private sector in the Central Asian Republics can be summarized as follows:

The total amount of credits Turkey has allotted to the Central Asian States, as of 1999, is around 1.5 billion US dollars. These credits aim to support the developing market economies of the Central Asian Countries.

The trade volume between Turkey and these countries increased from an amount of 145 million US dollars in 1992, to a total of over 5.6 billion US dollars in 1999.

Around 2500 Turkish companies are currently involved in a wide range of investment projects and services in the Central Asian Republics.

The investments by the Turkish companies in Central Asia reached a total of over 8.4 billion US dollars.

The constructing services by the Turkish companies in Central Asia have also reached an amount of over 4 billion US dollars.

The Turkish Government continues to encourage Turkish businessmen for materializing contracting, industrial and commercial joint ventures with third companies in the Central Asian Republics.