Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed that the volume of trade between Nigeria and Turkey will be expanded by $5 billion, to boost socio-economic ties between the two countries.
Erdogan disclosed this on Wednesday in a press briefing after a closed-door bilateral meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.
He stated that Turkey is willing to partner with Nigeria on security challenges and also expressed optimism the relations between Nigeria and Turkey grows.
What President Erdogan said
Erdogan said, “We hope and pray that we will be expanding our trade volume up to 5 billion dollars immediately.
“We hope and pray that the relations between the two nations would be further developed on the basis of a win-win situation and in the basis of mutual respect.
“As Turkey, we have been closely monitoring the development in Nigeria in our brotherly and friendly nation.
“The terrorist organizations, the armed gangs and the marine vendors are continuously active in Nigeria and the Nigerian authorities are continuously fighting them.
“In other to cooperate further in the field of military operations, defence and security, we are doing everything that will be available.
“We are ready to share our capabilities, even extending capacities as Turkey with Nigeria especially in the field of defence industry and security which are being praised by the globe.”
He said that he hopes that the sensitivity that Turkey is showing in the fight against terrorism will be reciprocated by Nigeria and other countries.
“The perpetrators of the heinous failed coup of July 15, FETO, is still very active in Nigeria. And we are continuously sharing our intelligence with Nigerian interlocutor and authorities,” he said.
What President Buhari said
President Buhari commended the Turkish President for opening his country’s borders to accommodate millions of refugees from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, in dire need of humanitarian support.
The Nigerian President described the two-day visit of President Erdogan and the First Lady, Emine Erdogan, as a reflection of the ‘robust, warm and cordial bilateral relation between Nigeria and Turkey.
“The key issues we touched on included a Series of Bilateral Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding that had been finalised.
“As a positive outcome, eight major Agreements/MoUs on a number of the key sectors including Energy, Defense Industry, Mining and HydroCarbons among others were signed today. We have agreed that implementation is to commence immediately.
“In the course of our discussions, we also reviewed the travel ban list based on the revised COVID-19 protocols and removed Turkey from Nigeria’s Travel Ban List. Turkey has indeed achieved remarkable success in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic,” Buhari said.
Buhari added that Nigeria and Turkey held very useful discussions on a number of bilateral issues, aimed at strengthening this cordial relationship between the two countries.