Türkiye’s trade with Turkic states over past 5 years hits $62.6B
Türkiye’s total trade volume with Organization of Turkic States (OTS) member countries reached $62.6 billion over the last five years, led by significant gains from the Zangezur and Middle Corridor trade routes, Anadolu reports citing Turkish statistical office TurkStat.
Türkiye’s exports in 2020–2024 to the OTS member states – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan – reached around $36.6 billion, while its imports to the bloc totaled $26 billion.
The South Caucasus country of Azerbaijan received the most Turkish exports in this period, totaling $12.8 billion, dominated by machinery, mechanical devices, plastics, and plastic products, and motor vehicles, while Türkiye imported Azerbaijani goods worth $5.3 billion, with mineral fuels, cotton, aluminum, iron, and steel making up most of this figure.
Türkiye–Azerbaijan trade relations are progressing, with Azerbaijan’s rich oil and natural gas resources being transported to Europe via Türkiye through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan Pipeline (BTC), the Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum Pipeline (BTE), and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) projects.
Türkiye has been Azerbaijan’s largest electricity buyer in recent years, which points to the diverse energy cooperation and supply security between the two countries.
The Zangezur Corridor – connecting Azerbaijan with its exclave Nakhchivan – a key route for regional trade, is expected to boost relations between the two countries by reducing logistics costs and boosting transit capacity and volume, while being used as an infrastructure corridor for electricity interconnection — where national electricity systems for transmission and distribution systems are connected to the system of another country — as well as interconnection for digital communication lines between Türkiye and Azerbaijan.
Turkish contractors are taking part in major projects in Azerbaijan, such as in housing and airport construction, as well as water, electricity, and energy transmission lines.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
Meanwhile, Türkiye’s exports to Kazakhstan over the past five years totaled $10.2 billion, while Türkiye imported Kazakh goods worth $13.2 billion. Turkish machinery, knitwear, and accessories led exports to the country, while most Kazakh imports into Türkiye were copper and copper goods, mineral fuels, aluminum, and aluminum goods.
Kazakhstan is Türkiye’s main trading partner in Central Asia, where Türkiye is among the top five investing countries. The Middle Corridor is a key transport and trade route in Eurasia, which benefits the trade between Türkiye and Kazakhstan.
This July Türkiye signed a railway agreement with Kazakhstan for the Middle Corridor to boost the volume and service quality of rail freight transport along the route.
At the same time, Türkiye’s trade with Kyrgyzstan in 2020–2024 reached $5.4 billion, and with Uzbekistan $15.8 billion, the data showed.
Turkic states summit
The latest data comes ahead of the 12th Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the OTS, set for next Monday and Tuesday in the northern Azerbaijani city of Gabala.
The summit will focus on regional peace and security, with participants expected to discuss regional and global developments and sign deals to strengthen cooperation and prosperity among Turkic nations.
The founding member states of the OTS are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Türkiye, while Uzbekistan joined in 2019. Hungary, Turkmenistan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) all have observer status in the group.
