“Our countries and peoples share warm, friendly relations despite the distance and different cultures,” Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic Natalya Kochanova said in her welcoming speech. “However, we are truly close, largely due to the policies pursued by the presidents of our countries, who have established a dialogue of trust that has allowed our nations to build a strategic partnership. Around 350,000 Belarusians visited Türkiye last year. The statistics in the opposite direction are somewhat different, but we will work on this matter. We have everything we need for this, primarily a solid legal framework. Today, there are more than 40 treaties and agreements between our countries across all areas. Moreover, in July we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the treaty of friendship and cooperation between our nations. Our trade has exceeded the one-billion-dollar mark, but there is still room for improvement.”
Following the meeting, Chairman of the Standing Commission on International Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic Sergei Aleinik told journalists that the parties prioritized trade and economic cooperation. “Türkiye ranks among the top ten largest trading partners of our country. We have a very good trade growth momentum. In Q1 2026, trade grew by another 15%, while Belarusian exports increased by just over 7%. Such meetings with Turkish business circles and the business cooperation council, which has existed for many years, allow us to find new growth drivers for cooperation between our countries,” he said.
Sergei Aleinik expressed confidence that the Turkish delegation’s visit would lead to new agreements in trade and economic cooperation, primarily in industrial cooperation, agriculture, woodworking, light industry, and other areas, as well as help find new common ground for investment cooperation and the creation of joint production facilities. “Today, there are 147 companies with Turkish capital operating in our country. On the territory of Türkiye, there are 117 companies with Belarusian capital. These include both standalone enterprises and joint ventures. Today, we discussed the prospects for tourism development and outlined steps toward increasing tourist flows to both Belarus and Türkiye. We also spoke about developing interregional ties between our nations, an area which the Council of the Republic considers a priority. We have signed seven sister-city agreements between the regions of Belarus and Türkiye, with three more currently in the pipeline. Given that Türkiye has 81 provinces, the potential for interregional cooperation is certainly immense,” the chairman of the Standing Commission on International Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic emphasized.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Türkiye to Belarus Güçlü Cem Işık pointed out that the Turkish delegation arrived in Belarus to visit the Belagro 2026 international specialized exhibition. “Economic relations account for a significant share of the cooperation agenda between our countries. Although the Turkish business delegation arrived to attend the Belagro exhibition, existing and potentially interesting areas of trade and economic cooperation will also be explored. During this meeting, we emphasized our approach: Türkiye does not view Belarus merely as a market for its products. Instead, we discussed our readiness to purchase Belarusian goods, our welcome of Turkish supplies to Belarus, and our openness to joint manufacturing for exporting to third-country markets,” Güçlü Cem Işık noted.
Photos by Kristina Aksenova/BelTA
Follow us on:
