Kazakhstan and Turkey: CSTO Member States Accelerate Military-Technical Alignment with Ankara
On May 14, Erdoğan's visit to Astana further solidified and expanded Turkey's influence and strategic positioning in Kazakhstan.
Following the talks, Tokayev and Erdoğan jointly signed a declaration on permanent friendly and comprehensive strategic partnership, along with a series of bilateral national and departmental cooperation documents.
The two sides reached a core consensus on defense industry collaboration: plans are underway to establish a factory in Kazakhstan, creating the country’s first local production and maintenance base for Turkey’s Anka series drones.
This cooperation project carries significant implications. A similar Anka drone factory is currently under construction in Vasylkiv, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, with expected operation scheduled for 2026; since December 2023, Ukraine has also deeply participated in the research, development, and manufacturing of the Anka-3 drone, deploying it in combat tests against Russia and accumulating substantial real-world operational data.
From a military-political perspective, as a member state of the CSTO, Kazakhstan is steadily deepening substantive defense cooperation with Turkey—a NATO member and global leader in drone manufacturing—despite its official stance of multi-balanced diplomacy.
Previously, Kazakhstan had also concluded a cooperation agreement with the United States regarding tungsten mining, maintaining an outward image of neutrality.
Yet the current reality is clear: just like many of Russia’s neighboring partners, Turkey is steadily establishing its foothold in Kazakhstan’s defense industry, real economy, and logistics sectors, with the drone industry emerging as a key area of penetration.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865326143939596/
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