Qatar-Turkey Strategic Committee meeting to strengthen ties: FM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The preparatory ministerial meeting for the sixth session of the Qatar-Turkey Supreme Strategic Committee took place yesterday in Antalya. The State of Qatar was represented in the Meeting by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The Republic of Turkey was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Mevlut Cavusoglu. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his deep thanks and gratitude for the government and people of Turkey for the good reception and preparation for the meeting. He renewed the condolences of the State of Qatar's Amir, government, and people on the victims of the earthquake that took place in the State of Izmir, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed the State of Qatar's support of the Republic of Turkey in alleviating the impact of the disaster. He noted the strengthening of bilateral ties to the level of a complementary partnership under the patronage of Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and President of the Republic of Turkey, H E Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He said he looked forward to a meeting that would enhance the strategic bilateral relations, which have grown over many decades, even further to strengthen the complementary partnership in all fields whether in security, politics, military, investment, development, and culture among other fields. H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani praised the outcomes of the fifth session of the Qatar-Turkey Supreme Strategic Committee that took place in Doha last November. He also praised the outcomes of the meetings held through video conference technology between the two sides' ranking officials in October.

H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the State of Qatar plans to move forward with efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation further, in light of the SWAP and the economic and commerce agreements that were signed, in addition to other agreements and memoranda of understanding that will be signed during the supreme joint committee meeting that set to take place in Istanbul on November 26. He noted that bilateral trade ties were constantly growing, indicated by a bilateral trade volume that reached $2.15bn in 2019.

He said that establishing a Turkish free economic zone in the State of Qatar will enhance ties further and create a platform for the Turkish investor to access markets in India, Asia, and Africa. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs added that the security and political challenges that the Middle-East and the world face, require constant consultation to face those challenges, expressing satisfaction with the agreement between the two sides on regional and international issues, and stressing that they will continue to support regional and international efforts to establish international peace and security, counter-terrorism, and resolve conflicts peacefully.

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