A red and white trail of fighter jets over Astana marked the start of a two-day diplomatic debate over Turkish relations. The exhibition accompanied the state visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 14.
The next day, Erdogan and Tokayev traveled separately to the southern Turkistan city. Together with the presidents of Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Northern Cyprus, they gathered for an informal meeting. summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).
Held consecutively, Erdogan’s state visit and the OTS summit focused on overlapping themes, including humanitarian aid, trade and cultural cooperation. Yet a key difference emerged: Discussions on joint arms manufacturing, agreed during the May 14 bilateral visit, were conspicuously absent from the next day’s summit. For Tokayev, this was a subject to be avoided in the broader multilateral framework.
While some OTS members advocate for deeper military cooperation, the Kazakh president has consistently opposed such ambitions. This leaves the scope of collaboration within the organization somewhat undefined, particularly on security-related issues.
After a welcoming ceremony for Erdogan in Astana, the two presidents began negotiations focused on expanding bilateral trade, with a focus on agriculture, digitalization, logistics and defense industry cooperation. Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan is ready to increase its exports to Turkey by more than $630 million.
Several agreements were signed during the visit, including a joint venture to produce the Anka drone developed in Türkiye. Agreement marks new milestone in drone cooperation initiated in 2022.
The two leaders also signed memorandums on humanitarian cooperation and cultural exchanges, with the visit ending with a Declaration of Eternal Friendship and Expanded Strategic Partnership. Despite its grandiose title, the declaration’s practical impact remains limited. Kazakhstan has only signed similar agreements with Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – the latter being signed in 1998.
In Turkistan the next day, the emphasis shifted more clearly to culture and symbolic diplomacy. Military cooperation was absent from public statements, while discussions reportedly focused on commerce and artificial intelligencea growing priority for Kazakhstan’s leaders.
Outside of formal discussions, Tokayev took advantage of the setting to highlight Kazakhstan’s Turkish heritage. The leaders visited the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawithe 12th-century Sufi mystic credited with the spread of Islam in the region. They also launched plans for a new Center for Turkish Civilization.
Yet not all members share Kazakhstan’s reluctance to deepen security cooperation through the OTS.
“We need to strengthen our defense and increase our cooperation in the industrial field. As Turkey, we are ready to share with our organization members the experience we have gained in the defense industry.” Erdogan said after the summit.
Similar calls were made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev when Baku hosted an OTS summit in October 2025, during which he proposed joint military exercises in 2026. These projects have not yet materialized.
Kazakhstan participated in military exercises with some members of the OTS as recently as last year, and maintains varying levels of defense cooperation with several of themincluding Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Despite this, Tokayev made it clear that the OTS is not a military alliance.
“The Organization of Turkish States is neither a geopolitical project nor a military organization. It is a unique platform aimed at strengthening trade, economic, technological, digital, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between brotherly nations,” he said. respond to suggestions that the bloc could evolve into a Turkish security alliance.
According to a recent analysis of The diplomatthis reflects Kazakhstan’s broader effort to maintain a pragmatic, multi-vector foreign policy, preserving regional partnerships without binding political or military alignment.
As Kazakhstan continues to emphasize the OTS as a cultural and economic platform while expanding its selective defense cooperation with its members, the question remains whether Tokayev can keep the organization firmly outside the sphere of formal defense integration.