Hidayet Bayraktar, Turkish ambassador to Nigeria, says
drones and helicopters from Turkey will soon arrive in Nigeria as part of
efforts to strengthen the security architecture of the country.
Bayraktar spoke on Saturday during the commemoration of the
99th national day of the Republic of Turkey, at an event held in Abuja.
In August 2021, Bayraktar had said there would be
collaborations between Nigeria and Turkey in various sectors, including
security.
As of July 2022, the federal government was said to have
procured six attack helicopters from Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
According to NAN, the ambassador described the security
support from Turkey to Nigeria as an achievement from the defence
cooperation contract signed by both
countries in 2021.
He said Turkey is set to extend support to Nigeria in its
efforts to counter security threats, by sharing experience, technical
expertise, and technology.
“The defence contracts signed between our countries last
year, marked a historical record,” he said.
“Taking this
opportunity, I am proud to announce that two of our flagship defence industry
platforms, Bayraktar (TB-2) drones and (T-149) ATAK helicopters, are set to
arrive Nigeria.
“We are confident that new Turkish defence products will
support the efforts of the Nigerian government and contribute immensely to the
peace, prosperity, and security of fellow Nigerians.
“Remaining as the sole obstacle hindering our bilateral
relations to develop further, we call Nigeria not to let terror groups
undermine our excellent ties, by allowing this terrorist group to fund their
illegal aims and activities, by generation of revenues in this country.”
On the bilateral relations between both countries, Bayraktar
said he was very proud that there have been achievements in the bilateral
relations between Turkey and Nigeria.
He also highlighted the visits of President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan to Nigeria as well as President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Turkey.
“These mutual high-level visits have provided the opportunity
to underline our shared goal of strengthening our bilateral ties in every
field, especially in terms of commerce, defence industry, energy, construction,
manufacturing, healthcare, education, tourism, and culture,” he said.
“With its steady growth over the last decade and by emerging
as an economic powerhouse in its region, Türkiye expressed its readiness to
share its development experience with African states, to broaden and strengthen
its cooperation in different areas.
“Today, Turkish business people, some of whom are present
here tonight, are investing in numerous sectors, from
fast-moving-consumer-goods to construction, from healthcare to transportation,
from energy to agriculture.
“With the current
pace of increasing commercial relations, I am confident that we will soon
achieve our target of $5 billion of bilateral trading volume with Nigeria,
which remains as one of our top trading partners in sub-Saharan Africa.”
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