The Africa we strive for is possible in unity and solidarity

I would like congratulate all our African friends on May 25th Africa Day wholeheartedly.

We remember with appreciation the African countries coming together under the roof of the African Union ( AU) on May 25th, 1963, predicating on independence and freedom, and displaying a common consciousness based on solidarity and unity.

The success story reached in the following decades in this spirit and understanding gives us hope for the bright future of the Continent.

Without a colonial past and having attained its full independence with its struggle against the occupation forces during the War of Independence, Turkey is one of the countries that best grasps the meaning of this day.

We are happy to share today this common joy, conscious of the importance of remembering the struggle for independence by the peoples of Africa, for freedom, equality and justice, and evoking the founding goals of the AU.

Our approach to African countries completely matches the founding principles of the AU and is built on a holistic, inclusive, equal partnership on the basis of mutual respect and winwin strategy. We share the spirit of 1963 and the vision of Africa, and attach great importance to Agenda 2063 and UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. In our concerted journey, which gained momentum with our observer membership status to the AU in 2005, we have covered plenty of ground with the 1st Turkey- Africa Partnership Summit that we hosted in Istanbul, and by being declared a strategic partner of the Union in 2008.

After the 2nd Turkey- Africa Partnership Summit held in Malabo in 2014, our ties with African countries have become stronger. We hope to host the Third Summit in our country, in September, which we believe will offer opportunities for a strong and comprehensive cooperation between Turkey and Africa.

We continue to contribute to peace and stability and economic and social development in Africa through our public institutions, non- governmental organisations and the private sector. Our Africa Initiative and Africa Partnership policies, considered among the most successful initiatives of our foreign policy, constitute an added value to our relations with the Continent.

We can see this constructive effect in many areas such as trade, investment, culture, security, military cooperation and development, and especially in our intensifying and developing political relations with Africa in the last decade. We are pleased to observe that African countries also attach importance to strengthening cooperation with our country. We continue to integrate Turkey and Africa in all areas. While the number of our diplomatic missions in the continent was only 12 in 2002, we increased this number to 43 with our embassy opened in Togo last month. African countries also increased the number of their embassies in Ankara, from 10 in 2008 to 37. Turkey, which is the 5th country in the world in terms of the number of diplomatic missions, continues to bring the issues of Africa to the agenda at the global level with its wide diplomacy network, and also continues to cooperate with African countries in regional and international platforms.

We continue to develop our commercial and economic relations with a win- win approach. Despite pandemic conditions, we managed to keep our trade volume close to the previous year’s data.

The total value of our direct investments in Africa has exceeded 6 billion Dollars. Our Turkish contractors contribute to Africa’s development by undertaking more than 1,150 projects. We appreciate the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, which is considered the most important project of Agenda 2063. We are ready to share our experiences with our African friends and provide support in this regard. Development and humanitarian aid of Turkey continues to contribute to the creation of favourable conditions for the establishment of a prosperous Africa.