Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held talks with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov during his state visit to Bishkek. It has became known that Turkey has decided to write off Kyrgyzstan’s remaining debt, which amounted to $58.9 million.
“I express my sincere gratitude to President Erdogan for the decision to write off the debt,” Japarov said at a joint press conference. He also asked the Turkish side to consider customs privileges for Kyrgyz suppliers and to involve Turkish companies in constructing small—and medium-sized hydroelectric power plants in Kyrgyzstan.
Erdogan said the talks resulted in the signing of 19 documents on cooperation, including in trade.
“We discussed steps to increase trade turnover between our countries from $2 billion to $5 billion. Turkish construction companies have implemented more than 90 projects here with a total value of about $1 billion,” he said.
This is not the first time Turkey has forgiven Kyrgyzstan’s debt. In 2011 Ankara wrote off $51m of the country’s foreign debt, accrued over the previous 15 years. According to the Kyrgyz Finance Ministry, by August 2024, the country’s total foreign debt amounted to $4.6 billion.
Erdogan is on a state visit to Kyrgyzstan from November 4-6.
