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Zim, Türkiye partnership strengthening

Opinion & Analysis
Turkish Foreign Minister, H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu

The Republic of Türkiye and Zimbabwe celebrated the 40th year of diplomatic relations in 2022. I am visiting Harare to build on our relations at bilateral level as well as within the framework of Türkiye-Africa partnership.

With 44 embassies, Türkiye has expanded its footprint all over the continent. In the last 20 years, Türkiye has become a hub for African diplomatic representations.

The Turkish Embassy in Harare was inaugurated in 2011, leading to a new momentum in our bilateral relations.

The Government of Zimbabwe has reciprocated in 2019, and together with my counterpart Honourable Frederick Shava, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, we inaugurated the Embassy of Zimbabwe in Ankara.

 This brought our relations to a new and elevated level.

Having historic and cultural ties with the continent, Türkiye’s relations with Africa have accelerated over the past 20 years. As a strategic partner of the African Union (AU), we have organised three Türkiye-Africa partnership summits.

Each summit made significant contributions to the multilateral and bilateral relations with African nations in various fields including trade, investment, culture, security and defence cooperation.

Zimbabwean high-level participation made important contributions to the success of each Summit.

Türkiye-Africa economic cooperation is ever increasing. Given the excellent level of political relations between Türkiye and Zimbabwe, it is imperative to make the most of our potential in trade and investment.

We should concentrate on raising the volume of our bilateral commerce through broadening our business and diversifying partnerships in trade, agriculture, green energy, infrastructure, health and education.

The Zimbabwe is open for business mantra is an important guideline for Turkish business circles in this regard.

Laying the legal framework by concluding the agreements pertaining to economic and trade relations will be crucial to further boost our economic relations.

Zimbabwe is a fortunate country, one of Africa’s gems, with fertile land, breath-taking sights like Victoria Falls, but most importantly, its highly educated citizens.

Türkiye supports Zimbabwe’s 2030 Development agenda in its quest for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development and prosperity based on equal partnership and mutual respect.

 Hence, we underscore our “win-win” principle on every occasion.

In line with our enterprising and humanitarian foreign policy, the Turkish Cooperation and Co-ordination Agency, the National Disaster Relief Agency as well as the Turkish Red Crescent have spearheaded millions of dollars-worth of sustainable development projects and in-kind aid in sub-Saharan Africa, including Zimbabwe.

Türkiye continued to be in solidarity with Zimbabwe during the most turbulent times, remarkably Cyclone Idai and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Human-centered approach is an imperative in achieving sustainable growth.

We strive to win together, make progress together, develop together, and walk hand in hand towards the future. In this process, we attach particular importance to reaching out to women, youth and children.

 So far, Türkiye has granted over 15 000 scholarships to African students through the Türkiye Scholarships programme. Currently, 57 Turkish scholarship beneficiary students from Zimbabwe study in our country’s highly developed education institutions.

The partnership between Türkiye and Zimbabwe is strengthening. I am more than confident that my visit to Harare will be instrumental in elevating it to the next level.

  • H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is the Turkish Foreign Minister

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