ANKARA - Turkiye and Slovakia on Monday signed a joint declaration to elevate the bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

The announcement came after a high-level meeting held between Erdogan and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the capital Ankara.

"Today, we have also signed agreements between our ministries and institutions in various fields such as military cooperation, defense industry, and culture. I believe these documents will strengthen our ties and take our cooperation to even greater levels," Erdogan said at a joint press conference following the meeting.

Erdogan highlighted the significant progress in trade and investment between the two countries in recent years, saying, "This trend shows us that we will soon achieve and surpass our joint target of 5 billion US dollars."

The two sides also discussed strengthening defense collaboration through concrete projects, Erdogan noted.

For his part, Fico praised Turkiye as "a major political and international actor", hoping that Turkiye could continue to play "a decisive role in the region".

The Slovak leader also voiced his support for Turkiye's European Union (EU) membership bid. "I sincerely hope that Turkiye's aspiration for EU membership will materialize as soon as possible, and you have our full support," he said.

Addressing concerns about energy security, Fico highlighted the restrictions on Russian gas transit, stating, "We have witnessed attacks following Ukraine's blocking of transit gas from Russia. We know that such actions will not contribute to stability. We hope that after a ceasefire, steps will be taken to ensure energy security across Europe."