Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday said that Bangladesh has become a ‘rising star’ in South Asia and ‘sustainable development model’ for the entire world under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership.
He also reiterated Ankara’s support to the Rohingya refugee crisis and pledged to strengthen the bilateral relations through cooperation in different areas including trade, investment and defense during the meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen at the state guesthouse Padma.
He left Dhaka after inaugurating the new chancery building of the embassy at Baridhara in the afternoon, ending his two-day official visit. Bangladesh also unveiled the new chancery of the embassy three months ago in Ankara.
At an ‘appropriate date and time in the near future’, the bust of Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will be unveiled in Ankara and the bust of the founding father of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk will be unveiled in Dhaka.
“Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership, Bangladesh has become a rising start of South Asia and a sustainable development model for the entire world,” he told a briefing after the bilateral talk, adding that Bangladesh would be one of the ‘most important’ partners of Turkey in Asia.
He also hailed the prime minister for her fight against Covid-19.
During the meeting, the whole range of bilateral issues including political relations, trade, investment, socio-economic developments of both the countries, fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, Rohingya issue, and cooperation in multilateral forum.
Dr Momen said the unveiling of the new chancery building in each other’s capital “brought us one step forward in our excellent bilateral relations”.
He described Turkey as a friendly country, and said the bilateral relationship in terms of trade and commerce would be enhanced in coming years.
Bangladesh is ready to work with Turkey in this ‘difficult time’ for the common causes of humanity when the whole world has come to a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, Dr Momen said, hailing Turkey for its efforts in fighting Covid-19.
He also thanked Turkey for its humanitarian support to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
The Turkish minister said they have been supporting these vulnerable people from the beginning. “In the future we will continue to offer support”.
He also announced Turkey's plan to build a hospital of international standards in Bangladesh in the nearest future.
Over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees took shelter in Bangladesh fleeing ethnic cleansing. Myanmar who denied their citizenship did not take any of them back since August 2017.
“We will continue making efforts at every level, and we need to also continue working with Myanmar for safe, voluntary and dignified return [of Rohingya],” the Turkish foreign minister said.
Regarding plans to build a hospital in Bangladesh, he said they were working on different models. “And hopefully in the future, we will be able to build the hospital.”
On Covid-19, he congratulated Prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the government for this ‘successful fight’ against the pandemic.
He said Turkey is in solidarity with the "friendly" Bangladesh. "We showed our solidarity with Bangladesh and Bangladeshi people. And we will provide more support if Bangladesh needs."
"Turkey, during the pandemic, is also the leading country in [terms of extending] humanitarian assistance," he added.
Cavusoglu said during the meeting they set the target to take the bilateral trade to $2 billion in the new future from the around $1 billion in 2019. However, due to the pandemic the trade has slowed down.
On defense cooperation, he showed interest in “joint production and technology transfer” that what Turkey does with its allies and neighbours.
Earlier, he paid a visit to Bangabandhu museum at Dhanmondhi-32 and paid respect to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“Visited Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum at the 100th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh, laid a wreath and signed the book in the respected memory of Bangabandhu,” he wrote on Twitter.