Erdogan lauds PM Hasina for providing shelter to Rohingyas

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday highly appreciated prime minister Sheikh Hasina for providing shelter to persecuted Rohingya people in Cox's Bazar district noting that Turkey will stay beside Bangladesh on Rohingya issue, reports UNB.

He assured of Turkish support to Bangladesh and staying beside Bangladesh on all possible bilateral and international efforts to resolve the crisis.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas.

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen met the Turkish president at the Presidential Complex in Ankara and discussed various issues of mutual interest including the Rohingya crisis.

The Turkish president expressed his desire to visit Bangladesh ahead of the formal inauguration of the newly constructed Turkish embassy in Dhaka at the end of this year.

They also discussed trade and investment issues between the two countries.

Expressing satisfaction over the existing friendly relationship, they both hoped that the ongoing cooperation in the areas of education, culture and defence will be strengthened further in the coming days.

They laid emphasis on taking new initiatives including exchange of trade delegations and hosting trade fairs and exhibitions.

The Turkish president agreed to join the upcoming D-8 Summit.

He laid emphasis on expansion of D-8 through inclusion of new members.

Bangladesh wants to host the 10th D-8 summit and its ancillary events 'virtually' in December 2020 or January 2021 in the context of COVID-19 new normal scenario.

The summit will be followed by a virtual 'Leaders Retreat', including a virtual visit to the Rohingya Camps in Cox's Bazar.

D-8, also known as Developing-8, is an organisation for development cooperation among Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

In April, Bangladesh proposed postponement of D-8 Summit, which was scheduled to take place in Dhaka at the end of May.

The Turkish president laid emphasis on expanding trade and commerce between the two countries and put forward some proposals.

He suggested investment in new products like textiles, pharmaceuticals and other sectors avoiding tariff barriers.

The Turkish president proposed Bangladesh to allocate land for building a modern hospital in Bangladesh with the Turkish financial support.

He assured Bangladesh of providing more Turkish support amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Turkish president expressed satisfaction over regular interactions between the two countries under Foreign Office Construction (FOC).

He also agreed on forming required forums to continue high level discussions between the two countries.

Turkish foreign affairs minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was also present at the meeting.

Earlier, Turkish foreign minister Cavusoglu said they would develop the cooperation between the countries in all fields, including in defense industry and economy.

"We would increase our trade volume of US$2 billion," he said during his meeting with Momen.

Minister Cavusoglu also said they appreciate Bangladesh for her assistance to the Rohingyan brothers and sisters.

On 14 September, minister Cavusoglu together with his Bangladesh counterpart Momen joined the opening ceremony of the new embassy building of Bangladesh.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina opened it joining Dhaka virtually.