The 2nd Bangladesh-Turkey Foreign Office Consultations was held yesterday in the State Guest House Meghna, Dhaka. The Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque and the Ambassador Ümit Yalçɪn, Under Secretary of Turkish Foreign Ministry led their respective delegations to the meeting. Bangladesh Ambassador to Turkey, representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Education, Economic Relations Division and Ministry of Home Affairs, and officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at the meeting.

In the Consultations, Bangladesh and Turkey positively assessed the developments in bilateral relations. Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of trade, investment, disaster management, education, counter terrorism, air connectivity etc. Views were exchanged on tourism cooperation, development sector cooperation and the Turkish cooperation for the distressed Rohingya people. Furthermore, both sides reviewed the existing cooperation agreements and agreed to finalize the pending instruments expeditiously. It was expressed by both the sides that high level visits from both the sides further strengthen the bilateral relations.

The consultation also had a productive exchange on global and regional issues. Both sides appreciated the close engagement between the two countries on regional and global issues of mutual concern. They also expressed commitment to cooperate mutually in the upcoming 9th Summit of D-8 scheduled to be held on 19-20 October 2017 in Istanbul and in the 45th session of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of OIC in Dhaka in 2018.

Next Foreign Office Consultations will take place in Ankara in 2018.