Senegal's President Macky Sall visited Türkiye on Wednesday and held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the capital Ankara.
The leaders held one-on-one talks at the presidential complex, to be followed by a joint news conference.
Erdoğan and Sall discussed all aspects of the Türkiye-Senegal relations and steps to enhance cooperation between the two countries.
Current regional and global issues were also on the agenda.
Developing relations and cooperation with African countries is one of the cornerstones of Ankara's multi-dimensional foreign policy.
Opened in 1962, the Turkish Embassy in Senegal's capital Dakar is one of the first of Türkiye's diplomatic missions in Africa.
In February, Erdoğan visited Senegal as the second stop of his three-nation four-day Africa diplomacy tour. Erdoğan was on his fifth visit to the country.
Inaugurating the new embassy building in the capital Dakar during the official visit, Erdoğan said: "Our relations with Senegal, which is a key country in the region, are at an excellent level."
The new Turkish Embassy building in Senegal will take the ties between the two countries "one step further," vowed Erdoğan, adding that the original embassy, dating back to the 1960s, was one of Türkiye's first in Africa.
"The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) opened its first office in West Africa in Dakar in 2007," he added.
With the opening of the new building, Erdoğan said: "Today, we take our strong historical, cultural and human ties one step further."
"I hope the new building of our Dakar Embassy will be beneficial to our country, our nation, and the people of Senegal."
Senegal, which gained independence from France in 1960, stands out in West Africa owing to its stability and institutionalized democracy. Its capital, Dakar, hosts regional offices of many international organizations, including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF – thanks to its excellent geographical location and security.
Only two years after the country's independence, Türkiye opened its embassy in Dakar, one of the country's earliest embassies in Africa.
Senegal opened its embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara in August 2006, which gave a new impetus to bilateral relations. Türkiye is seeking to strengthen its presence in Africa. Since 2003, the volume of its trade with the continent has increased from $2 billion to at least $25 billion.
Erdoğan has visited Africa nearly 40 times since 2005, as prime minister and president. Besides, Türkiye has opened some 40 embassies on the continent.
Türkiye's influence also covers the realm of defense with Ankara inaugurating its first African military base in 2017 in Somalia. Türkiye-Africa relations gained new acceleration with the country's policy of "Strategic Africa," initiated by Erdoğan in 2003.
The number of Turkish Embassies in Africa has increased from just 12 in 2002 to 43 in 2021. Türkiye became an "observer member" of the African Union in 2005, and the union declared Türkiye a "strategic partner" in 2008.
