Rejuvenating silkroad: past, present and future of Turkey - Uzbekistan relations

Abstract

Turkey has increasingly paying much attention to its relationship with the all over the world, especially in Middle East, Africa and Asia. Turkey was the first country to recognize Uzbekistan's independence on 16 December 1991. Since that date, relations between Uzbekistan and Turkey have been developing dynamically in the commercial-economic and financial spheres. Many co-operation agreements have been signed between the two states. The positive aspect of Turkey’s renewed interest to foster relations with all over the world recently is, partly demonstrated by the strong interest and action taken by the countries that wanted to improve relations Turkey as a strategic partner. There are not only commercial and economic relations between Uzbekistan and Turkey, but also cultural relations. In recent years, great importance has been attached to the development of tourism sector and bilateral cultural relations. Uzbekistan's historical tourism potential and rich cultural heritage attract the attention of Turkish citizens. For this reason, the development of cooperation in the tourism sector plays an important role in the approach of the peoples of the two countries. It is necessary to show all efforts to develop mutually beneficial relations in economic, cultural and humanitarian fields. For the bilateral relations to be developed more actively, both countries have the necessary resources and great potential. As known, the Turkish – Uzbek relations is very old and multi-dimensional which includes economic and trade, social and cultural, diplomatic, development and humanitarian etc. In this part, a brief review of the diplomatic and economic relations is given. This part is expected to give a highlight with respect to the historical and relations and, hence, would help the urgency to revive relations in the future and the importance of the conference towards that goal. The cultural and artistic relations between Turkey and Uzbekistan are very old. The common characteristics of the two countries are their history, culture and art that based on the same ancestry. Within the framework of the agreements between the two countries, not only commercial and economic relations but also cultural and artistic relations are developing are developing between Turkey and Uzbekistan. The purpose of this book and organized congress has an aim to contribute to the developing relations. --From editors