The Turkish embassy in Gambia commemorated the country’s founding today at Ocean Bay Hotel, Cape Point. Turkey was founded on the 29th of October 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
The Turkish ambassador to the Gambia, Ismail Sefa Yuceer, said his country will continue to support Gambia in its democratization process. Mr Sefa, whose tour of duty ends in Gambia in few weeks, made the statement at Ocean Bay as Turkey commemorated its founding on Tuesday.
Turkey was founded on the 29th of October 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The country has been a longstanding friend to Gambia since independence in 1965.
“As you move forward to buıld the new Gambıa, Turkey wıll contınue to support thıs new dıspensatıon, represented by democratıc and humanıtarıan values,” said Sefa on Tuesday.
“I would also like to note that Turkey and the Gambia have remarkable cooperation at the international arena particularly at the UN specialised agencies and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Gambia has always supported Turkey on the international platforms. Turkey has also been the staunch supporter of the Gambian interest in those fora.
“Another important aspect of our cooperation has been in the field of capacity building and experience sharing among institutions.
“Turkish government has been actively involved in the capacity building of Gambian institutions and providing aid in kind.
“Turkey, in terms of development cooperation, particularly through the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) and other Turkish non-governmental organisations, has been continuing to conduct aid and assistance projects in the Gambia, regarding education. Each year, the Turkish government, together with the private universities, allocates higher education scholarships to the Gambian students. The Turkish government has provided 35 higher education scholarships for the Gambian students for the period of 2019-2020.
“Availing of this opportunity, I would like to announce that my tour of duty in the Gambia is coming to an end within few weeks. Having spent 3 years in the Gambia, based upon my experience and observations in the country, I could conclude that the Gambia could be more hopeful for the future than when I arrived in late 2016. Like all my colleagues from the diplomatic corps who arrived before 2017, I also witnessed the smooth and peaceful transition of the country to democracy.
“As a matter of fact, under the wise leadership of H.E. President Adama Barrow this country made great strides in many fields during the last 3 years. As a long-time friend of the Gambia, turkey from the very first day of the change in the country gave its utmost support to the government and people of the Gambia. Actually, this support manifested itself in concrete programmes and projects financed by Turkey. Our logistical support to the Gambian army, capacity building programmes extended to the Gambia police force, health, fisheries and agriculture ministries, local administrations and scholarships provided by the Turkish state and private universities to the Gambian students are some examples of this ongoing cooperation.
The Turkish ambassador paid tribute to the founding fathers “who sacrificed their lives for our country and made it possible that today we could proudly celebrate the 96th anniversary of the establishment of our republic”.
Comments are closed.