President Erdoğan spoke at a joint press conference with Algerian President Tebbun

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria held a joint press conference following their talks in Algiers.

Expressing his happiness to be back in Algeria once again after his visit in 2020, President Erdoğan said: “I would like to thank my dear brother once again for the hospitality extended to me and my delegation. We continue to reap the good results of the intensive talks and consultations in our relations over the last three years.”

“As you know, we, with my dear brother Tebboune, decided to establish our High Level Cooperation Council during my visit to Algeria. We held the first meeting of our Council in Ankara last year. Today, together with my esteemed brother, we co-chaired the second meeting of our High Level Cooperation Council. We had fruitful talks. We exchanged views about the steps to be taken to deepen our relations. We will closely follow the projects to be realized in this framework. To reflect the current state of our cooperation, we have renamed the Council as the “High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council” with the addition of the word “strategic”. This decision symbolizes the level our relations have reached and the strategic vision that supports our relations,” President Erdoğan said.

“Türkiye and Algeria have centuries-old ties of friendship and brotherhood,” President Erdoğan underscored. “We expect our trade volume, which reached a record high of $5.3 billion last year, to reach $6 billion by the end of this year. We will inshallah achieve soon the $10-billion-trade-volume goal we have set with my brother Tebboune by increasing our efforts. I believe that the preferential trade agreement, the negotiations of which will start with the joint declaration of intent signed today by our trade ministers, will help us.”

“WE WISH TO DIVERSIFY AND ENHANCE OUR RELATIONS IN ENERGY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY WITH NEW PARTNERSHIPS”

“We are following with appreciation Algeria's efforts, under the leadership of my brother Tebboune, to mobilize its economic potential by diversifying its activities,” President Erdoğan said. “Nearly 1,400 Turkish companies are supporting this process. We are proud that our companies are the largest investors and employers in non-hydrocarbon sectors in Algeria. We will endeavor to increase these investments even more. We are also pleased with Algeria's investments in our country. There is no doubt that the signing of the agreement on reciprocal promotion and protection of investments as soon as possible will support the objective of developing investments. It is a source of pride for us that our contracting companies have a significant share in Algeria's infrastructure investments. Our Ziraat Bank has obtained the necessary permits to open a branch in Algeria. This development will greatly contribute to our economic and trade cooperation.”

 “We wish to diversify and enhance our relations in the field of energy and renewable energy with new partnerships,” President Erdoğan said. “The natural gas contract between BOTAŞ and Sonatrach is a good example in this regard. We see that we also have great potential in the defense industry. In our talks today, we thoroughly discussed what we can do in this field. We have accelerated our efforts to complete the processes for the opening of a Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center in Algeria and an Algerian Cultural Center in Türkiye as soon as possible.”

“OUR PRIORITY IS TO ESTABLISH A CEASEFIRE AND TO ENSURE THE UNHINDERED FLOW OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO THE REGION”

Noting that they discussed the tragedy in Palestine during today’s talks, President Erdoğan highlighted Algeria’s strong and sincere support to the Palestinian cause, and said: “We appreciate Algeria's determined stance on the Palestinian issue, which resonates in the conscience of both our countries. We do not accept in any way the Israeli attacks, which have turned into collective punishment and constitute war crimes. Targeting places such as hospitals, places of worship and schools, which should be under protection under all circumstances, and forcing the population to migrate, is unconscientious and barbaric. Our priority is to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible and to ensure the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid to the region.”

“Without a fair political solution to the Palestinian issue, it is not possible to establish lasting peace and stability in our region. The establishment of a State of Palestine within the 1967 borders with East al-Quds as its capital is now inevitable. We will continue to do everything we can in this direction. We have also declared that we are ready to assume responsibility as guarantors, together with the countries of the region, in the implementation of a fair peace to be agreed upon by Israel and Palestine,” President Erdoğan said.

President Erdoğan and President Tebboune also answered reporters’ question following their remarks.

In answer to a question on a possible prisoner exchange, President Erdoğan said: “Talks are underway at the moment about the return of hostages. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs, our Director of National Intelligence are carrying out this process in a joint effort with Qatar. We hope we will soon get results with regard to prisoner exchange. We are in constant contact. And we expect to get positive results.”