Turkey launches series of events to bolster ties with Latin American, Caribbean countries

Turkey said it will organize cultural activities to mark the 200th anniversary of the independence of some Latin American countries, jointly launching a series of events on Thursday.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country will jointly organize cultural and academic activities in 2021 to mark the 200th anniversary of the independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and Peru.

While the country will commemorate the same occasion as Brazil in 2022 and the centennial of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 2023, it added.

Representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and chiefs of these Latin American countries' missions began a series of commemorative events with a wreath-laying ceremony in the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it said.

"To celebrate these special occasions, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassies of these friendly countries in Ankara decided to undertake a series of joint cultural and academic activities not only to mark these historical events together but also to underline and raise awareness of the ever-growing relations between Turkey and these countries," it added.

It underlined that Ankara has a long-standing record of diplomatic, political, economic, and cultural cooperation with the region's countries, adding that in the last two decades, since the launch of Turkey's dedicated Latin American outreach policy, this relationship has been further strengthened and diversified, becoming a strategic pillar of Turkey’s foreign policy.

"As a result, Turkey's trade volume with Latin America increased five-fold; the number of Turkish diplomatic missions nearly tripled; bilateral political relations advanced with frequent mutual high-level visits; cooperation in international fora further deepened with Turkey becoming an observer member of many of the regional organizations like SICA, MERCOSUR, and Pacific Alliance; while social and cultural exchanges between the peoples have reached an unprecedented level," it said.

"Today, on the basis of this strong foundation and taking into account the vast potential that continues to exist for further cooperation, all sides are firmly committed to advance their relations in every possible field with a view to benefiting in full from this positive potential and serving the common interests and expectations of their peoples," it noted.