President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the Algeria-Türkiye Business Forum in Algiers as part of his official visit to Algeria

 

Expressing his happiness to be visiting Algeria once again following his last visit to the country in 2020, President Erdoğan noted that he and his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune co-chaired the second meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council, and added that they, as the two Presidents, decided to elevate this mechanism to the High Level Strategic Council.

“OUR TRADE VOLUME WITH ALGERIA INCREASED TO 5.3 BILLION DOLLARS LAST YEAR”

Stating that the bilateral trade and economic relations were reviewed in detail during today’s talks and 13 agreements were signed, President Erdoğan said: “In our joint declaration, we stressed our will to boost our cooperation efforts in a manner to contribute to the peace and prosperity of Türkiye and Algeria as well as of the region. The talks and visits, which have accelerated recently, add significant momentum to our relations.”

Pointing out that they reap the fruits of their shared will with Algerian President Tebboune in every area, particularly in trade and economy, President Erdoğan said: “Last year, our trade volume increased to 5.3 billion dollars with a record high rise of 27 percent, compared to the previous year. The upward trend continues this year as well. Our trade volume in the first ten months of 2023 increased by 19 percent to reach 5 billion dollar, compared to the same period of the previous year. Inshallah, we will have reached the level of 6 billion dollars by the end of the year.”

Noting that they put the bar higher by setting the target as 10 billion dollars during the first meeting of the Cooperation Council held last year in Ankara, President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “I believe that we will achieve this goal in the shortest span of time with your valuable contributions. Our investors, who notice the cooperation opportunities in Algeria, continue to build new and strong bridges between our countries. We, for our part, will continue to help them. Nearly 400 Turkish-partnered companies operating in Algeria create employment for about 5,000 Algerians. Our companies operate in a wide range of areas including housing, infrastructure, iron and steel, textile, petrochemicals and pharmaceutical industry.”

Congratulating the Turkish companies carrying out exemplary operations in all of these areas and win the appreciation of their Algerian brothers, President Erdoğan drew attention to the efforts they, as the two leaders, exert for the solution of the problems faced by the business community.

“WE AIM TO DIVERSIFY OUR LONG-STANDING ENERGY RELATIONS WITH A NEW VISION” 

Noting that the cooperation in banking and commerce will particularly expand with the launch of Ziraat Bank’s operations in Algeria, President Erdoğan stated: “The investments of our companies have reached 6 billion dollars in market value. With these numbers, Türkiye is the country that makes the biggest investment and provides the highest employment in Algeria excluding oil and natural gas. We hope to reach the level of 10 billion dollars as soon as possible.”

Stressing that the leaders’ responsibility to clear the path in front of businesspeople and to create new cooperation opportunities, President Erdoğan said: “With this understanding, all our institutions continue their works at full pace to consolidate the contractual basis of our economic and trade relations. The swift implementation of the Preferential Trade Agreement, the negotiations on which will start in accordance with the Joint Declaration of Intention, signed by our Trade Ministers, will add great momentum to our cooperation. Likewise, the implementation of the Agreement on the Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments will also serve as a new source of incentive for the investors in both countries.”

Stressing that Türkiye will continue to collaborate with Algeria for the swift finalization of these processes, President Erdoğan said: “We follow with appreciation Algeria’s efforts to enhance its domestic production as well as its capacity in non-hydrocarbon sectors. We aim to diversify our long-standing energy relations with a new vision and turn them into a long-term partnership. Our institutions and companies work jointly in this direction and develop partnerships.”

President Erdoğan further stressed: “I believe that Turkish businesspeople will continue to make the most of the opportunities and cooperation possibilities in Algeria. We are also pleased with Algeria’s investments in our country. We will continue to facilitate our Algerian brothers’ investments in Türkiye.”

“TÜRKİYE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE WAR CRIMES THE ISRAELI RULERS COMMIT AGAINST OUR PALESTINIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS”

Thanking the Algerian authorities for their determined stance against Israel’s escalating atrocities in Gaza since October 7, President Erdoğan described Algeria as one of the countries showing the most courageous and strongest reaction on the Gaza issue, and went on to say: “During today’s talks, we discussed with my brother Tebboune what can be done to stop the bloodshed. The attacks, in which our over 13,000 Palestinian brothers and sisters have been martyred, have once again laid bare the true face, intention and target of Israel and its supporters. Therefore, it is of critical importance that the war crimes and the crimes against humanity committed by Israeli rulers be not allowed to go unpunished.” 

Stressing that those who brutally murder Gazan children, babies, women and elderly must be judged and held to account not only before the conscience of humanity but also before the international law, President Erdoğan said: “Otherwise, we cannot prevent the cruel from getting more cruel and perpetrating similar massacres. Along with the Islamic world, all the countries of conscience have responsibility to ensure that Israel cannot attempt to commit similar atrocities. We should all know that Israel is a terror state. We need not refrain from telling this. This is the case, this is the truth we all know. Therefore, we should do what this calls for. It must swiftly be taken to the International Court of Justice over this massacre, over this genocide. Our thousands of lawyer friends are currently maintaining their works in this direction. We must make sure that the State of Israel, first and foremost Netanyahu, stands trial there.”   

“Are they not the ones who bomb hospitals, schools, places of worship, mosques and churches?” asked the President, and continued: “Are they not the ones who raze Gaza to the ground? Are these to go unpunished? Are we to say, they can get away with these? Whatever is necessary... Look, what happened at the United Nations? 121 countries stood against Israel. 40 countries abstained. 14 countries stood against us but we will continue our efforts. That is so because Netanyahu is a goner. Even the Israeli people do not defend Netanyahu. If there is still anyone standing by him, be sure that it is because they owe something to Israel. Yet, we as Türkiye and Algeria owe nothing to Israel. We are only indebted to our own peoples and so we act freely. Türkiye will continue to monitor the war crimes the Israeli rulers commit against our Palestinian brothers and sisters.”

“WE WILL CONTINUE TO EXERT EVERY EFFORT FOR GAZA’S RECONSTRUCTION”

Further stressing that Türkiye will not allow the nuclear weapons issue to be forgotten, either, President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “Hey Israel, tell us whether you possess atomic bombs or not. It cannot say, but we are saying it. Israel, you have atomic bombs. We have filed and continue to file this with the relevant authorities. We will take the necessary action on this issue, which jeopardizes the security of both Türkiye and the entire region, both at the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Concurrently with all this, we will continue to exert every effort for Gaza’s reconstruction. Yes, I am calling on the wealthy. They should provide the necessary support to Gaza. We should all together lend support to the fund established during the Riyadh summit. We cannot accept, and will not accept, the policies of depopulation Israel continuously pursues in Gaza. Gaza belongs to the Palestinians, and it shall remain so with Allah’s permission. I would like to reiterate that it is important for us as the Islamic world to uphold the Palestine cause.”