DA Platform decorates Kazakh leader Nazarbayev with medal

The award was bestowed on Nazarbayev by the Dialogue Eurasia Platform (DA), which aims to build bridges among Eastern European and Central Asian countries with which Turkey has had historical, religious and linguistic connections for centuries, at a ceremony held during Nazarbayev's visit to the headquarters of the Joint Administration of Turkic Culture and Art (TÜRKSOY) in Ankara. Nazarbayev was welcomed by Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay and TÜRKSOY head Düsen Kaseinov upon his arrival at the headquarters. Since the first day of his presidency, Nazarbayev has implemented firm policies both in his own country and in Asia as well as in the world to spread multicultural dialogue, mutual respect and the understanding of living together, Harun Tokak of the DA said at the ceremony.

He also cited all of these facts as the reason for presenting the award to the Kazakh leader. On Thursday, Nazarbayev was also decorated with a state medal by his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül.

Nazarbayev was elected president of Kazakhstan in 1990. Then, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of Kazakhstan in 1991, he was re-elected president in a popular vote.

Turkey recognized Kazakhstan on Dec. 16, 1991, on the same day Kazakhstan declared its independence. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in March 1992. The two sides have constantly expanded areas of cooperation and achieved satisfactory results since the Kazakhstan's independence. Common historical and cultural ties significantly contributed to the rapid development of bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay (L) greets Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev during the president's visit to the headquarters of the Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture in Ankara on Friday.

Also on Friday, before proceeding to İstanbul to attend the Turkish-Kazakh Business Forum, Nazarbayev visited the 1st Organized Industrial Zone (OSB), located in the Sincan district of the Turkish capital, where he said his country would benefit from Turkey's experiences in industry investment, particularly in OSBs.

Nazarbayev, arrived in Ankara on Wednesday evening for an official visit at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Gül. On Thursday evening, as Gül hosted a dinner in the Kazakh president's honor, the Turkish president, in his speech, focused on Turkey's will to improve relations with Kazakhstan in the energy field. The Central Asian country has one of the world's largest unexplored reserves of oil.

“We have been working to improve our relations with Kazakhstan in the field of energy, too. Within this context, Kazakhstan's start of oil transpiration through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline as of October 2008 is a pleasing development for Turkey. In addition, the success of the Kazakhstan Caspian Transportation System is of great importance for us,” Gül said.

“Turkey has the will to support the export of Kazakh oil and gas to global markets via projects in which it [Turkey] also takes part. We attach importance to the transportation of Kazakh oil through the Samsun-Ceyhan route to the world markets and to engage in cooperation to build a joint oil refinery in Ceyhan,” he added.

Nazarbayev said on Thursday his country was ready to participate in the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline project, but he gave no further details.

Earlier on Thursday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during a video link that Kazakhstan may supply oil for the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline linking Turkey's Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts.

“Our Kazakh colleagues expressed their readiness to work jointly to fill this oil pipeline system,” Putin told Erdoğan. Putin's spokesman later confirmed that he was referring to the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline.

Italy's Eni and Turkey's Çalık hold a 50 percent stake each in the pipeline project. Italy, Russia and Turkey signed an accord in Milan to build the pipeline. Eni will play a leading role in its construction. The 550-kilometer-long pipeline will have a maximum capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day. Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni has said oil from the Kashagan and Karachaganak fields in Kazakhstan could be used to fill it.

Meanwhile, the Kazakh president also had talks with Süleyman Demirel, a former Turkish president, as well as with main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, while in Ankara on Thursday.