Turkey, Ivory Coast To Boost Bilateral Relations

Turkey and Ivory Coast are set to boost ties with a series of agreements signed on cooperation in fields such as economy, education, culture, tourism, military, security and science.



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Ivorian counterpart Alassane Ouattara said at a press conference at the presidential palace in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday evening that they looked forward to enhancing bilateral relations. 



"Ouattara's visit gains a separate richness with these agreements," said Erdogan.



Erdogan also discussed trade volume - now about $320 million - between two countries and said they targeted $1 billion in a one-to-one meeting ahead of the press conference. 



"In the following years, we will show this resolution [to increase the trade volume]," said the Turkish president, adding Turkey would share its experience in construction with the Ivory Coast.



'Justice and security'



Recalling his visit to Equatorial Guinea's capital Malabo at a partnership summit in November 2014, Erdogan said: "Turkey conducts its relations with African countries within principles of equal partnership and a win-win model."



Erdogan said Turkey would assist Ivory Coast in development based on what he called "four basic elements".



"Turkey will seriously focus on education, health, justice and security," he said. 



The Ivorian president said his country wanted to improve relations with Turkey and the agreements were an indication of rapid improvement of them.



Ouattara invited Turkish companies to invest in his country, humorously asking Turkish people to consume more cocoa from Ivory Coast to make it more expensive in global markets.   



'Threat to Africa'



The two leaders also expressed their stances against the Boko Haram militant group in Nigeria.  



Erdogan recalled Boko Haram had abducted around 500 people including women and children and said: "I curse this organization's acts and strongly condemn the group, which abuses the values of a religion (Islam) whose essence is peace."



The Ivorian president said Boko Haram posed a threat to the whole of the African continent.



He said:  "It is not possible to develop without security and peace, especially for countries like Ivory Coast.



"We will continue to fight Boko Haram and terrorism."



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara