- Heads to Nigeria Tuesday
President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who arrived Angola’s capital, Luanda, on Sunday for the first leg of his mini-tour of three African countries, is expected to end his visit on Tuesday and head to Nigeria and Togo.
On arrival on Sunday, Erdoğan was welcomed by Angola’s Foreign Minister, Tete Antonio, and Alp Ay, Turkey’s ambassador to the Southern African nation, at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport.
Accompanying the Turkish President are First Lady Emine Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, and Trade Minister Mehmet Muş.
The streets of Luanda were decorated with Turkish flags to celebrate the Turkish President’s arrival.
And ahead of the visit to Nigeria, billboards showing Erdoğan could also be seen in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
To kick start his bilateral talks on Monday, Erdoğan was welcomed by his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenco with an official ceremony at the Presidential Palace, including the customary 21-gun salute.
After the delegation meetings and one-on-one talks, the Turkish President, Recep Erdoğan, and his Angolan counterpart, Lourenco, signed cooperation agreements in the areas of defence, mining, agriculture, industry
the two leaders held a joint press conference after one-on-one talks and delegation meetings.
Erdoğan later addressed the Angolan parliament. He also visited the Memorial of Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto, the country’s first President, who died in 1979.
Erdoğan later attended the Angola-Turkey Business Forum organized by Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).
On Monday evening, the visiting Turkish leader would attend a dinner and gala night before departing Luanda for Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Tuesday morning.
President Erdogan is expected to stay in Nigeria for one day before departing for Togo.
The three-nation African visit is also a way to sensitise and kick start activities for the third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit will be held in Istanbul on Dec. 17-18.
Many Heads of State and Government from African countries, Ministers, high-level officials and representatives of regional and international organizations will attend the summit, which Erdoğan will also attend.
At the summit, within the framework of the Africa Partnership Policy, the steps to be taken in line with Turkey’s goals of supporting the continent’s development efforts and increasing commercial, cultural and human relations will be evaluated.
The first Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit was held in 2008 and the second in 2014 in Equatorial Guinea.