Leaving from İstanbul on Sunday, Gül’s visit will end on Tuesday, as both of the events fall on the same day, July 6. While in Astana, Gül will hold bilateral talks with several regional leaders who will also participate in the celebrations.
Turkey believes that this visit will contribute to the “strengthening of brotherhood and cooperative relations which have been rapidly growing between Turkey and its strategic partner Kazakhstan and other regional countries recently,” Gül’s office said in a statement announcing the visit last week.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, meanwhile, is among the leaders invited to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s birthday celebrations, which will take place in Crimea on Saturday, July 10.
According to Ukrainian press reports, Yanukovych, who turns 60 on July 9, reportedly plans to take a vacation on Saturday and celebrate his birthday in Crimea. In addition to Erdoğan and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Turkmenistan and the deputy president of Poland are among invitees. No official statement regarding Erdoğan’s attendance has been released by the prime minister’s office yet.
