Turkey aims to further develop bilateral relations with the countries of Latin America, a goal reaffirmed by the ramped-up diplomacy during Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's latest tour of the region.
Çavuşoğlu this week embarked on a six-country Latin American tour with a visit to Uruguay on Saturday, followed by a trip to Brazil on Sunday and Monday. During both visits, Çavuşoğlu reiterated Turkey’s will to deepen cooperation and increase bilateral trade with South American nations.
The minister will also pay visits to Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela.
"Latin America is strategic opening geography for us," the minister said in Montevideo. Çavuşoğlu cited that the number of Turkey’s embassies in the region had increased from six to 17 in the last two decades. The number of Latin American embassies in Ankara also reached 16, up from six, in the same period.
Çavuşoğlu says the opening of new embassies would add pace and help further increase mutual trade and cooperation in all fields.
On Monday the foreign minister said Turkey and its biggest commercial partner in Latin America, Brazil, are aiming for a trade volume of $10 billion (TL 147.90 billion), stressing bilateral will to make the exchange much more balanced through diversification of goods.
"Brazil is our biggest trading partner in the Latin American region, but in our discussions today, especially with businesspeople ... the $5 billion trade volume is far behind our potential, so our goals are big," Çavuşoğlu said at the opening ceremony of the Turkish Consulate General in Sao Paulo.
In Montevideo, he said Ankara wants to further develop bilateral relations with Uruguay.
"I am extremely pleased with the distance we have covered in our relations and the momentum we have achieved in the last year," he told a joint news conference with his Uruguayan counterpart Francisco Bustillo.
"We just signed two important agreements. We believe that we can increase our bilateral trade volume even more. "Even without this agreement, our bilateral trade volume increased by 30% despite the pandemic," Çavuşoğlu said.
After signing the free trade agreement, the bilateral trade volume and economic cooperation will reach much higher levels, he added.
Cavusoglu went on to say that they want to further develop relations in many fields, especially in agriculture, health, education, defense industry and tourism.
He also said that Turkey is looking forward to the opening of Uruguay's Embassy in Ankara.
For his part, Bustillo said they discussed developing a "fantastic relationship" and increasing trade volume.
Tourism
"We want to mutually increase our trade volume and also our tourism activities," Çavuşoğlu told a joint news conference after a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Carlos Franca in the capital Brasilia.
During the meeting, Turkey and Brazil concentrated on cooperation in the fields of defense, military, culture and education, Çavuşoğlu said. The two countries also signed important agreements that will strengthen cultural and political relations, he added.
Before the start of the pandemic, the number of tourists visiting Turkey from Brazil was around 100,000, while this number has dropped as the countries closed borders as part of the COVID-19 measures, Çavuşoğlu noted.
"Now our aim is to achieve this figure again and even go beyond this to reach 150,000. We want to host guests and tourists from Brazil. And we also want our Turkish citizens to visit Brazil," he said.
Turkish Airlines flights to Sao Paolo are an important driver of tourism, the Turkish foreign minister said, adding that Turkey plans for a direct flight to Rio de Janeiro as well.
"With those direct flights, we can of course increase the number of tourists inbound and outbound," Çavuşoğlu noted.
He underlined that Turkey and Brazil have ties that go back more than 160 years, saying the two countries have strong cultural relations.
In 2010, the countries brought their relations to the strategic partnership level, he noted.
On the occasion of Çavuşoğlu’s visit, the 4th Turkey-Brazil Partnership Commission meeting was also held.
Key regional, global actor
Çavuşoğlu said Brazil is an important partner for Turkey but also an important actor both regionally and globally.
"So, in addition to regional matters, we’re willing to work more closely with Brazil on the global matters," he noted.
"We want to have stronger cooperation in multilateral platforms like the U.N., G-20, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)," said Çavuşoğlu, adding that Turkey strongly supports Brazil’s OECD candidacy.
During the meeting, the two sides also discussed regional matters, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the Turkish foreign minister said.
"The fight against terrorism is also an area we attach importance for our cooperation in the forthcoming period," he added.
Çavuşoğlu also celebrated the second centenary of the independence of Brazil and said he is willing to host his counterpart Franca in Turkey soon.
Free trade deal with Southern Common Market
Franca, for his part, said they agreed to expand the bilateral cooperation.
"We are trying to institutionalize the infrastructure of our relations with Turkey. We want to strengthen this institutional infrastructure in the defense industry, as well as in many different fields," he said.
Franca welcomed Çavuşoğlu’s visit and hailed Turkey’s intensive multilateral and bilateral contacts in the international arena, including the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which he termed "extremely important."
It was the first time that a delegation representing the Brazilian government attended this forum last month, said Franca.
On March 10, Turkey made headlines worldwide for hosting the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in the southern Turkish province of Antalya, the highest-level meeting of the two sides since the war began on Feb. 24.
Franca also stressed that Brazil supports Turkey’s efforts to revive the free trade agreement negotiations with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).
Franca also thanked Turkey for its support for Brazil’s OECD candidacy.
Recalling the agreement between Turkey and Brazil in the field of defense industry inked last year, Franca said: "With this agreement, we will be able to carry out many different studies and transfer technology. This will also increase the combat power of the Brazilian army and strengthen our infrastructure in this regard."
Çavuşoğlu on Sunday attended the opening ceremony of Turkey’s Consulate General in Sao Paulo.
Later on Monday, Çavuşoğlu met with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as part of his official visit to the Latin American country. Bolsonaro received Çavuşoğlu at Brazil's Presidential Planalto Palace.
"Met with President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. Discussed our bilateral relations and recent developments in Ukraine," Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter.