He disclosed that Turkey was founded 100 years ago, on the 29th of October 1923 under the visionary leadership of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, crowning the Turkish war of independence and modernism for many countries. He added that after the founding of their republic, their foreign policy has been based on Ataturk’s principle of “peace at home, peace in the world.”
He added: “Today, it still continues to be the guiding principle of our foreign policy. Thus, Turkey continues to be an island of stability in her region, despite all the challenges, conflicts and wars surrounding its geography. Having the fifth-largest diplomatic network in the work, our country uses humanitarian diplomacy tools for the peaceful solutions to existing problems.”
Dwelling on the wonderful relations between Turkey and The Gambia, the ambassador stated that he has been serving in the country for almost four years, saying he has had the pleasure of witnessing the rapidly developing relations between the two brotherly countries at every level. He added that the relations started to gain momentum in 2011 with the opening of Embassies in the two countries’ capitals.
“I am proud to say that the relations between the two countries are excellent in all fields including political, military, economic, commercial, agriculture, health, technical cooperation and other realms. We have rapidly growing cooperation in the areas of energy, construction and vocational training,” he said.
Sering Modou Njie, Gambia’s minister of Defence, underscored the long-standing relationship between the two countries, while thanking the close and cordial relations between the two great leaders coupled with the “constant political and technical” consultation at all levels.
He stated that the two countries’ long-existing bilateral cooperation and partnership has grown progressively for mutual benefit. He added that over the years, the two countries have signed several Memorandas of Understanding and cooperation agreements to facilitate and maintain frequent exchange of high-level visits and deepening collaborations in key areas of their respective economies such as the security sector, education, health, capacity building, and diplomacy among others.
“The Gambia and Turkey relations on the economic and security fronts, which formed the backbone of our cooperation has flourished since the advent of the Turkish President in June. On May 2, 2019, the two countries signed a military financing cooperation agreement under the aides of the Defence Cooperation Agreement resulting in a military resource allocation of millions of US dollars for the procurement of military goods and services,” he stated.
