There is a period of economic transformation program in Saudi Arabia. It is aimed to diversify the revenues of non-oil industry and services. What kind of opportunities do you think that this transformation would create for Turkey, which would also affect the other Gulf countries as well? We wish that Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and National Transformation Plan for transforming and diversifying the economy will be successful. Indeed, the policy of economic diversification and transformation has been a priority for other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states as well.
These programs which will contribute to the prosperity and progress in the Gulf region will offer new investment opportunities in many fields for Turkish companies to establish long-term business relations.
In the GCC countries, Turkish companies have contributed to the successful realization of an impressive set of infrastructure and development projects. Therefore, we are confident that the trust placed in the Turkish companies will continue. Besides, we are willing to cooperate in areas where we can make a difference such as tourism and health. We will keep sharing our experience with
the GCC countries and promote reciprocal investments. As our economic ties strengthen, our efforts to further deepen our excellent political relations with the Gulf countries will surely be positively affected. It is remarkable that Qatar has stood out for the direct foreign capital investment to Turkey from the region recently. Furthermore, the Finance Centre in Atasehir district of İstanbul will be completed in 2020. What are you planning to increase the awareness of the Gulf countries on this issue? Turning Istanbul into an international finance center is an important component of our vision for the year 2023. Geo-strategically speaking, Turkey is located at the heart of the world’s top ten finance centers. Being at the crossroad of Europe, Asia, Middle East
and Africa, the Istanbul Finance Center will assume an important role in the financial markets.markets.
We witness increasing amount of investments to Turkey from friendly GCC countries, including brotherly Qatar. Our efforts to raise awareness in the Gulf countries about the investment opportunities in the Turkish financial sector will continue. In this respect, Turkey and the GCC as well as its member states have speeded up their efforts in the economic and commercial fields by
intensifying meetings, completing the legal infrastructure and organizing business visits and forums. Starting talks on a free trade agreement between Turkey and the GCC as soon as possible will also be an important step.
The developments in Syria are also on the radar of the countries in the region, especially Turkey. With the establishment of peace, migration and reconstruction of Syria will come to the agenda again. What are your opinions on the Syria’s peace process, and opportunities that may arise? We created a 2,015 km2 terror-free safe zone in northern Syria through the Operation Euphrates Shield, which was conducted by the Free Syrian Army with the support of the Turkish military. Almost 50,000 Syrians have returned to this safe area. For continued voluntary returns and prevention of new migration waves, it is necessary to provide safety and security for Syrians in their homeland. Indeed, the memorandum on the creation of de-escalation areas in Syria, which we signed as the guarantor states at the last high-level Astana meeting, aims to ensure the security of Syrians already residing in these areas, as well as to facilitate the safe return of locals who had to flee due to ceasefire violations.
Turkey and the US are allies and partners. TR-US relations are deep-rooted, special and essential. Our relations are crucial not only bilaterally but also for regional and global matters. In this regard, we continue our close cooperation with the US Administration on the fight against terrorism, illegal migration and also on critical issues regarding Syria and Iraq. We have close high level contacts with the new US administration. Our President visited Washington, D.C., on the 16th of May and met with President Trump for the first time. The meeting in which both Presidents emphasized the vital importance of Turkey-US relations and reiterated their determination to maintain and further develop their strategic partnership was productive. They talked in detail about all critical issues including the fight against terrorism and issues regarding Syria and Iraq and they emphasized the importance of continuing close cooperation. Our concerns and expectations regarding the US’ cooperation with YPG/PYD and about FETÖ were shared candidly. President Erdoğan’s visit provided an important opportunity to reset our relations and provide a fresh look at the problematic topics.
US President Trump is expected to work in harmony with Turkey. Thanks to your outstanding efforts, the relations with Russia is in a normalization process. What are your views on the future of our relations with the two major countries that are effective in the region?
On the other hand, our political dialogue with Russia is back on track. The normalization process has been politically completed over President Erdogan’s visit to Moscow on 10 March for the 6th meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council. Remaining economic issues were discussed between Presidents Erdoğan and Putin on 3 May in Sochi. Then we hosted Prime Minister Medvedev in Istanbul at the BSEC Summit and a joint statement on economic normalization was signed during this visit.
We naturally have differences with Russia about some issues. Yet we think that such differences should not affect our cooperation. In fact, beyond bilateral projects like Akkuyu and TurkStream, we can achieve positive results on regional issues too when we work together, as in Syria. There is no such thing as a preference between our relations with Russia and with our allies. On the contrary, we think that they complement one another. We believe that a powerful Turkey in the region necessitates maintaining good relations both with the US and Russia.
It is remarkable that Iran, which plays a role in the internal balances of Syria, has tried to develop good relations with Turkey. What are your views on the future of bilateral relations with Iran?
We have a 560 km-long border with Iran. We cooperate in fields such as trade, transportation, energy and tourism, particularly in border regions. Commonalities present opportunities to further advance bilateral relations. On the other hand, our policies on regional issues differ. As Turkey, we make every effort to ensure inclusive policies and dialogue in our region and make advices in this direction. We believe that such an understanding would serve the benefit of all countries in the region and contribute to the re-establishment of regional peace and stability. We attach importance to the continuation of our political dialogue with Iran for seeking solutions to the problems in our region. The Astana talks on Syria are exemplary for our position.
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