Former Turkish President Abdullah Gül visits Uzbekistan

Turkey’s 11th President, Abdullah Gül, visited Uzbekistan last week accompanied by his wife, Hayrünnisa Gül. He shared details of the trip on his official Facebook page.

Gül noted that this was his first visit to Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. He expressed his admiration for the development and cultural revival taking place in these historic cities, highlighting their importance in the history of Turkic-Islamic civilization.

“This is my first visit to Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva, which are witnesses of Turkic-Islamic history. I am impressed by the changes, revival, and development I have seen in Uzbekistan, and I highly appreciate it,” Gül wrote on social media.

Photos posted to his page show the former president and his wife touring major historical landmarks, including Registan Square in Samarkand, the monuments of Bukhara, and the architectural sites of Khiva.

According to several Turkish media outlets, Gül has largely stayed out of the public eye since the end of his presidency, making this visit a rare public appearance.

Abdullah Gül was born on October 29, 1950, in Kayseri, Turkey. He completed his primary and secondary education in his hometown before moving to Istanbul, where he graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University. A co-founder of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Gül served as foreign minister and briefly as prime minister before becoming Turkey’s president on August 28, 2007, a position he held until 2014.

Notably, Gül never visited Uzbekistan during his presidency, and the First President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, did not visit Turkey during his time in office.