Speaking at a joint press conference with President Bukele of El Salvador, Erdoğan said: “Our relations with Latin America and the Caribbean constitute one of the main pillars of our multidimensional foreign policy. The number of our diplomatic missions in the region, which was merely six 15 years ago, has risen to 17 today.”

Voicing his pleasure over hosting President Bukele, who was paying the first presidential visit from El Salvador to Türkiye, Erdoğan said: “I believe this historic visit will be a new milestone in Türkiye-El Salvador relations. We are closely monitoring El Salvador’s recent steps to broaden its horizon in foreign policy. I regard my dear friend’s visit today to be a reflection of his novel policies. Before you, I would like to welcome him once again.”

“Also, this visit by President Bukele, who is of Palestinian ancestry, and is known as ‘El Turco’ in his country, is distinctly meaningful to us,” Erdoğan said. “Actually, after he came into office, we have achieved serious momentum in our relations. The official inauguration of El Salvador’s embassy in Ankara, which became operational last year, was made today by our foreign ministers. Inshallah, we will open our embassy in San Salvador as soon as possible.”

“Our economic and trade relations made a great leap despite pandemic”

Erdoğan said: “Despite the pandemic, our economic and trade relations have made a great leap in the recent era. Our bilateral trade volume, which was over $27 million in 2020, has neared $50 million last year. This approximately 80-percent increase actually shows how great our potential is. Therefore, we would like to increase this number to $100 million first and then to $500 million over the next 5 years. The Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement we signed today will be a significant instrument in this regard.”

Noting that the negotiations over agreements for prevention of double taxation and reciprocal promotion and protection of investments would be concluded soon, Erdoğan said: “We also support Mr. President’s vision to turn El Salvador into a logistical hub in its region. I personally expressed to him that Turkish firms stand ready to contribute to all the investments he plans to make with this aim. I have underscored that our support to El Salvador’s development projects will continue. The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) donated technical equipment, including ultrasound devices and materials, to a children’s hospital in El Salvador during the pandemic last year. Our agency will continue its support in many areas from healthcare to education and agriculture in line with the El Salvador authorities’ priorities.”

“We also exchanged views on regional issues, Central America in particular,” Erdoğan said. “Our relations with Latin America and the Caribbean constitute one of the main pillars of our multidimensional foreign policy. The number of our diplomatic missions in the region, which was merely six 15 years ago, has risen to 17 today. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate once again the 200th anniversary of independence of El Salvador, which was celebrated last year together with many Central American countries. Tomorrow, we will inaugurate a significant exhibition in Istanbul that will shed light on the history of our relations with the countries of the region, including El Salvador. I would like to thank once again to Mr. Bukele, who contributed greatly to the development of the friendly relations and cooperation between Türkiye and El Salvador. I hope that the decisions we made and the agreements we signed at our meetings will be auspicious.” (ILKHA)