Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu inaugurated a new consulate for Sri Lanka in Turkey's Alanya town. Cavusoglu said the aim is to build connections with Asia—which has emerged as the centre of global economic power.
Inaugurating the Sri Lankan consulate, called Antalya Honorary Consulate General, Cavsoglu said that Turkey wants to strengthen relations with Sri Lanka in economy, culture, and education, reports Sri Lanka’s News First website.
Inaugurated today the Alanya Office of #SriLanka’s Antalya Honorary Consulate. Honorary Consul Ali Kamburoğlu will make a positive contribution to our relations.
Will further develop our cooperation with friendly Sri Lanka in the framework of our #AsiaAnew Initiative. 🇹🇷🇱🇰 pic.twitter.com/6ntkX1c6eQ
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) November 6, 2021
Under its Asia Anew Initiative, Turkey is looking towards Asia in an effort to enhance its ties with the East. It wants to act as a bridge between the East and the West as it joins the two continents of Europe and Asia.
Recently, Turkish Ambassador to Sri Lanka Demet Şekercioğlu had said that trade had cemented ties between the two countries. She added that Turkey has been helping Sri Lanka recover through development aid and capacity building since 2006 in the post-tsunami period.
The Turkish ambassador also highlighted that the two countries are together in the fight against terrorism.
Inaugurating the Sri Lankan consulate, Cavusoglu said that the two countries are linked historically since 1864 after the Ottoman Empire had opened an honorary consulate in Sri Lanka. Ankara also was one of the first countries to recognise Sri Lanka after its independence in 1948.
Anadolu Agency quoted the Sri Lankan ambassador to Turkey, Mohamed Rizvi Hassen as saying that Sri Lanka hopes to increase trade, investment, tourist, and cultural contacts, as well as people-to-people contact with Turkey.
