The Turkish and Emirati foreign ministers discuss prospects of bilateral cooperation
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) discussed food security and energy issues on Saturday during a meeting between UAE Foreign Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, who is on an unannounced visit to the capital Abu Dhabi, the official WAM news agency reported.
During the meeting, they discussed prospects for bilateral cooperation, partnership between the UAE and Turkey, and efforts to strengthen them, WAM reported. Abu Dhabi praised Ankara’s efforts to resume the operation of the agreement to export grain from Ukrainian ports.
The two sides also discussed a number of issues of common concern, including food security and energy, and exchanged views on regional and international developments.
The energy and food security issues were among the most prominent international issues, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th
The UAE minister congratulated Turkey on resuming the agreement to export grains via the Black Sea to world markets, praising Turkey’s great efforts to continue the implementation of the Grain Agreement.
He stressed the UAE’s keenness to take advantage of the available opportunities to strengthen cooperation with Turkey in all fields to support the development paths of both countries.
Turkish-UAE relations have been improving after a period of differences due to Ankara’s support for groups accused of terrorism, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and threatening Arab national security in a number of arenas, whether in Libya or Syria.
The two countries turned a page on their differences after UAE President Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Turkey in December 2012, the first visit by a senior UAE official in more than eight years.
During the visit, the two countries signed economic agreements worth $10 billion, and afterwards signed 13 security, economic and technological agreements and memoranda of cooperation covering the fields of investment, defense, transportation and health.
Economic cooperation between the two countries has also been boosted by military cooperation. In May, Turkey and the UAE signed two memorandums of understanding to develop relations in the defense industry between the two countries.
There have been reports of Turkey selling drones to Abu Dhabi as part of the rapprochement to use Turkish military technology to counter threats from Iran and its allies.
Observers believe that strengthening cooperation between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates will contribute to stability in the region, within the framework of Abu Dhabi’s efforts to reduce tension in a number of issues and improve relations with regional powers such as Iran.
Both Abu Dhabi and Ankara are concerned about energy as the global crisis escalates due to the disruption of Russian supplies to Europe.
Turkey, which last month announced an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to become a center for transferring gas to Europe, is seeking to boost energy cooperation with the UAE, which has become an important investor in energy, especially clean energy.
Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez attended the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference where he met with his UAE counterpart Suhail Al Mazroui and Sultan bin Ahmed Al-Jaber, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced Moscow’s return to participate in the grain deal after receiving the necessary written guarantees from Ukraine, thanks to the support of Turkey and the participation of the United Nations.
On Monday, the Russian defense ministry announced that it was suspending the movement of ships through the safe passage designated under the Black Sea Grain Initiative “due to its use by Ukraine in combat operations against Russia.”
On July 22, Istanbul witnessed the signing of the “Safe Shipping of Grain and Food Initiative Document from Ukrainian Ports” between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Nations.
The agreement included securing exports of cereals stranded in Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea (Eastern Europe) to the world to address the global food shortage crisis, which threatens a humanitarian catastrophe.
