Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu held high-level meetings in Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar.
Within the framework his visit to Gulf countries, Minister Ertuğruloğlu met with Yusuf Bin Ahmed El Useymin, the Secretary-General of the Organisation Islamic Cooperation (OIC), of which the TRNC is an observer member. Ertuğruloğlu invited the Secretary-General to visit the TRNC, and asked for support in the elimination of the unfair embargos established against the TRNC and the Turkish Cypriot people.
Ertuğruloğlu also visited the TRNC’s Doha, Qatar and Muscat, and Oman Representative Offices, meeting with the TRNC Muscat Representative Emine Andız Ertürk and the TRNC Doha Representative Dr. Tayseer Al-Shanableh to learn about the offices’ work. The Minister later visited the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Muscat and in Doha and thanked them for their support to the TRNC Representation offices in those cities.
As part of the high-level meetings programme, Minister Ertuğruloğlu met with the Executive Director of the OIC Islamic Solidarity Fund İbrahim Abdullah Al-Khuzayem and with the General Director of the Islamic Development Bank Bender Bin Muhammed Bin Hamza Al Haccar.
During his visit to Qatar, Ertuğruloğlu met with Qatar Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Wahid Al-Hammadi.He also met with the Chairman of the Qatari Businessman Association Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani, the President of the Tourism Commission of Qatar Hasan Al-İbrahim, and the Vice Chairman of the Qatari Chamber Muhammad Bin Ahmed Bin Towar Al Kuwari. During the meetings, Ertuğruloğlu told them about tourism, trade and higher education in the TRNC, which are the country’s driving forces of economic growth, and invited the officials to visit the TRNC to learn more about the country.
Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu also attended the opening of the “Expo Turkey by Qatar” fair in Doha, where he was welcomed as a guest of honour. Ertuğruloğlu participated in the fair to help develop commercial relations between Turkey and Qatar and to enable joint investments between the countries.
In all the meetings held during the Minister’s visit to Gulf countries, the status of the Cyprus negotiations was discussed. The Minister was accompanied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Mustafa Lakadamyalı, the TRNC İstanbul Consul General Fahri Yönlüer and the Foreign Ministry 2nd Secretary Çağrı Kalfaoğlu.