The governments of Cuba and Turkey have expressed interest in further expanding bilateral relations.
This was one of several issues discussed during a meeting between Cuban deputy Foreign Minister Anayansi Rodriguez with her Turkish counterpart Sedat Onal.
The Cuban diplomat is on a working visit to Turkey and both sides have reiterated the good pace of bilateral links and their interest in keeping developing such relations.
Rodriguez was in Turkey as part of a Cuban delegation to the second Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
She also met with the Minister of Tourism and Culture Mehemt Nury Ersoy to exchange on business and investment opportunities between the two countries.
Rodriguez took part at a panel on Multilateralism for Peace and Stability whose main speaker was Venezuela’s vice-president Delcy Rodriguez.
She also met with diplomats from other countries represented at the forum and required debates on key aspects related to diplomacy in today’s world.
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Cuba were established in 1952. Turkey opened its first Embassy in the Caribbean in Havana in 1979.
In February 2015, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, paid a visit to Cuba. This was the first presidential visit from Turkey to Cuba and was a milestone for the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla visited Turkey in June 2017, which was the first Ministerial visit from Cuba to Turkey. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu paid an official visit to Cuba in May 2019. During the visit, Minister Çavuşoğlu met with his counterpart minister Parrilla and was also received by Cuba’s president, Miguel Diaz-Canel.
The bilateral trade volume between the two countries was US$54.7 million in 2019. (Turkish exports:US$42.9 million, Turkish imports:US$11.8 million).
/CMC
