Ankara, 4 June 2022 (TDI): The president of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Mali’s transitional President Assimi Goïta held a telephone call on Friday. The two leaders discussed bilateral relations between their countries and regional matters.
President @RTErdogan spoke by phone with Mali’s transitional President Assimi Goïta.
The call addressed the Türkiye-Mali relations and regional issues.
— Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (@trpresidency) June 3, 2022
He also mentioned that Türkiye will keep supporting Mali during its political transition period.
Erdogan stressed that Türkiye will make efforts to improve the economic and trade links with Mali. He assured that Turkey will keep contributing to Mali’s growth.
Furthermore, the Turkish President emphasized that his country will continue to support Mali in its combat against terrorism, the statement noted.
Moreover, he stated that Türkiye expects the same support from Mali in its fight against terrorism.
Additionally, he also expressed hope that the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) activities will be blocked in Mali.
The Turkish president stressed that actions will be taken soon to deepen the economic and trade-base relations between both countries,
Moreover, President Erdogan said that Mali, for its part, should support Türkiye in its battle against terrorism and put an end to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization’s (FETO) activities in the country.
In Turkey, FETO conducted a failed coup in July 2016. It resulted in the death of 251 people and injured 2,734 more.
Turkey had accused FETO of orchestrating a long-running campaign of infiltration into Turkish institutions; mainly the military, police, and judiciary, to destabilize the government.
Bilateral relations between Türkiye and Malian
One of the important factors in Turkey’s financial ties with the Malians is humanitarian and development assistance.
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, TIKA, has executed several projects within this framework. In the years ahead, TIKA will continue to assist Mali.
The commencement of Turkish Airlines’ three-times-weekly direct flights to Bamako in May 2015 marked a significant moment in Turkey-Mali’s commercial and economic relations.
Turkey’s commercial connections with Mali are gradually developing. The volume of trade between the two countries climbed from around 5 million in 2003 to US 57 million in 2019.
In addition, the Turkish Maarif Foundation runs a number of schools in Mali. And Turkey has provided government scholarships to Malian students since 1992.
