Turkish FM says Turkey and Africa share a common destiny

ISTANBUL (A.A) - December 16, 2011 - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said he believed that Turkey and Africa shared a common destiny. Davutoglu delivered a speech at the opening of the Turkey-Africa Partnership Ministerial Review Conference in Istanbul on Friday. Turkish-African ties had a great strategic importance, he said. "We believe that we share a common destiny with Africa. When we look at the past, we can see that Turkey and Africa had sound bilateral relations," he said. Turkey and Africa had mutual respect, great cooperation and common stance, he said. Davutoglu said Turks and African people were brothers and sisters, stating that there were unique and special relations between Turkey and Africa. The number of Turkey's diplomatic missions in Africa tripled and the number of Turkish embassies in Africa rose to 33 from 12 as of the beginning of 2009, he said.