Turkish president receives UAE foreign minister

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received, on Friday, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, who is on an official visit to Turkey.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan arrived in Turkey at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

During a press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said, “The relationship with Turkey can achieve many of the hopes of the two peoples and enhance the two countries’ regional standing”.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan added: “We hope to strengthen joint efforts with Turkey to increase trade between the two countries”.

He continued: “We can do more to strengthen our partnership with Turkey in several areas, most notably Africa”.

He continued: “We applaud the increase in the volume of trade between the UAE and Turkey, which has increased by 82% in just two years, which is an encouraging rate due to the will of both countries”.

“There is momentum in relations between the UAE and Turkey on the cultural, economic and political levels”, he said.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to Turkey comes about 10 days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the United Arab Emirates on May 17, during which he was keen to offer condolences from Abu Dhabi to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, on the death of the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and to congratulate him on assuming the presidency of the country.

The UAE Foreign Minister’s visit to Turkey comes nearly two months after his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, visited the UAE in mid-March and participated as a guest of honor at the meeting of the UAE ambassadors at the invitation of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The visit, which comes on Friday, comes amid mutual efforts between the two countries to normalize relations, and it joins a series of visits and continuous talks between the leaders and officials of the two countries.

The visit reinforces the recent qualitative leap in relations between the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, which was translated into continuous visits and discussions between the leaders and officials of the two countries and the signing of agreements to strengthen cooperation in more than one field.