Turkish parliament's Speaker asks for Kazakhstan's support for Baku-Ceyhan

Turkish Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi met with his Kazakh counterpart Jarmahan Tuyakbay and was received by President Nursultan Nazarbayev and addressed the Kazakh Parliament yesterday. In his speech, Izgi asked for the continuation of Kazakhstan's support to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline projects that will create an alternative way to transport Kazakh oil to world markets. Stating that Turkey and Kazakhstan share the same ideas, Izgi said the two countries were the global actors of Eurasia. Drawing attention to the fact that Kazakhstan had taken important steps in democratization by transferring into the market economy after gaining independence under the rule of President Nazarbayev, Izgi reiterated Turkey's full support to Kazakhstan in its fight against terrorism. Izgi said that Turkey had always supported central Asian Turkic speaking countries and would continue to do so. Izgi and the Turkish delegation is expected to travel the cities of Almati and Turkistan today where they will visit the Hodja Ahkmed Yassavi tomb and Turkish-Kazakh International Hodja Ahkmed Yassavi University. Izgi and the delegation will travel to Kyrgyzstan on April 1 to hold meetings with Kyrgyz officials. Izgi will address the Kyrgyz Parliament on April 2 and will be received by President Askar Akayev on the same day. After completing their visit to Kyrgyzstan, Izgi and the delegation will move on to Turkmenistan and then will return to Turkey on April 6.