Turkey will support Burkina Faso in the face of growing security and food insecurity challenges, Turkey’s envoy to the country Nilgün Erdem Arı said on Tuesday.
Arı announced this after a meeting with Burkina Faso's Prime Minister Albert Ouedraogo in the capital Ouagadougou, according to a statement by the prime minister's office.
They discussed various areas of cooperation between the two countries.
"Turkey is ready to support Burkina Faso, which is facing a difficult security, humanitarian and food insecurity situation," Erdem Arı said.
She noted that Turkey maintains excellent and historic diplomatic relations with Burkina Faso.
"There is a strong will between the two countries to enhance cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, culture and especially education," she added.
In education, Turkey awards scholarships to Burkinabe citizens, while the two countries also maintain military cooperation in the area of training.
Burkina Faso has been battling an insurgency that has spread from neighboring Mali over the past decade.
Ankara has frequently reaffirmed that Turkey’s approach in its ever-growing relations with African countries is based on equal partnership and a win-win principle, emphasizing the strong will to further develop commercial ties.
Turkey’s engagement with the African continent has been gaining pace over the years.
Having adopted a one-dimensional foreign policy shaped by its relations with the West for decades, Turkey has shifted to a more diversified, multidimensional and independent foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. Turkey's opening up to Africa, which dates back to the action plan adopted in 1998, took shape in 2005, which Ankara declared the “Year of Africa.”
