Turkey wants to further develop bilateral relations with Uruguay, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Saturday.
"I am extremely pleased with the distance we have covered in our relations and the momentum we have achieved in the last year," Çavuşoğlu said in a joint news conference with his Uruguayan counterpart Francisco Bustillo in Montevideo.
"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," he said.
After signing the free trade agreement, the bilateral trade volume and economic cooperation will reach much higher levels, he added.
Çavuşoğlu went on to say that they want to further develop relations in many fields, especially in agriculture, health, education, the 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 are pleased to welcome his Turkish counterpart in Montevideo.
"We have just signed the agreement for the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments," he said, adding that they discussed developing a "fantastic relationship" and increasing trade volume.
Çavuşoğlu's official visit to Uruguay constitutes the first official visit at the level of foreign minister. He also inaugurated the Turkish Embassy in Montevideo.
"Latin America is a strategic opening geography for us. We have increased the number of embassies in the region from six to 17 in the last 20 years," he said, adding that the number of embassies of Latin American countries in Ankara has also increased from six to 16 in the same period.
With the opening of new embassies, mutual trade and cooperation in all fields will increase, he said, adding that the two ministers exchanged views on Turkish Airlines' flight plan to Montevideo.
Despite the physical distance between the countries, Turkey has a cultural closeness with Uruguay, Çavuşoğlu said. "It is not a coincidence that Turkish TV series are very popular in Latin America, including Uruguay," he added.
Regarding Turkey's efforts for peace, he said crises in the region cannot distract his country from achieving its global goals.
"With this understanding, we are visiting Latin America to build the future together. If we work together, we can take our relations with all Latin American countries, especially Uruguay, to a much further point," he added.
Turkey aims to deepen its relations with Latin America for a common future, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu told ambassadors from Latin American countries earlier this year.
Turkey is an observer country in organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and MERCOSUR.