UAE, Turkey Foreign Ministers Discuss Longstanding Diplomatic Ties

As the UAE and Turkey marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their economic ties, the countries' ministers of foreign affairs and international cooperation discussed diplomatic relations over a phone call on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed his gratitude to UAE's Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the country's support following the deadly earthquakes of Feb. 6 that had affected Turkey and Syria, the Anadolu Agency reported.

The twin quakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 had left more than 50,000 people dead.

The UAE was one of the first to organize rescue and relief efforts for Turkey, following the disaster. The country continues to support the rebuilding of the country to this day, with the UAE Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defense distributing this week tons of dates to 11 earthquake-affected areas in Turkey to alleviate their hunger ahead of the Ramadan.

The recent phone meeting comes four months after UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed Turkish Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu at Qasr Al Bahr Majlis in Abu Dhabi last November to address the prospects of further strengthening cooperation between the countries.

During the meeting, which was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Soylu extended to Sheikh Mohamed the greetings of Turkish President Recep Tayyp Erdogan, as well as his wishes for good health and happiness for the UAE President and progress to the Emirates.

The UAE and Turkey share longstanding cultural, economic, and military relations, with the latter being one of the oldest trading partners of the Emirates. In July 2022, UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, also led an Emirati delegation to Turkey to explore new investment opportunities and pitch new areas of collaboration across various sectors.

The tour followed the official visit of Sheikh Mohamed to the Western Asian country at the end of 2021 and a follow-up visit by Erdogan to the UAE. During the visit, the UAE inked at least 13 deals and protocols with the UAE in various fields. Among the agreements signed was a currency swap deal between the central banks of the two countries.

The talks also paved the way for the UAE's establishment of a $10 billion fund to support investment in Turkey. Although oil is central to Turkey and the UAE's investment cooperation, Turkey also accounts for more than 3% of the UAE's non-oil foreign trade.