As Qatar commemorates and pays tribute to its founding fathers, Turkey’s ambassador to Qatar Fikret Ozer has said that National Day is the best occasion to strengthen the spirit of national pride, solidarity and historical awareness.
He added in remarks made to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of Qatar’s National Day celebrations that National Days also bring people from different countries together, including high-level officials and diplomatic corps, to serve as a venue of inter-cultural dialogue.
“Given our deep-rooted cultural ties and excellent bilateral relations in every field, the National Day of Qatar is of particular importance for both the government and people of Turkey.
“In my capacity as the Turkish ambassador to Qatar, I would like to celebrate the National Day of the friendly State of Qatar and extend my best wishes to our Qatari brothers and sisters on this occasion,” the ambassador said.
The ambassador discussed Qatar’s achievements in recent years and said that they made the country a success story.
He added that these successes turned the country into an important actor on the international arena.
He highlighted that the recent achievements in terms of self-sufficiency particularly in dairy and poultry products are appreciated by not only by the Qatari people but all the leading actors of international community.
The ambassador also stressed how, despite different economic and political challenges over the past two years, Qatar has successfully been following the path of economic progress and social development.
He highlighted the mega infrastructure projects that have been implemented within the framework of Qatar National Vision 2030 and FIFA 2022 World Cup preparations, as well as the significant steps taken to increase economic diversification, self-sufficiency and industrial production.
Ozer discussed Qatar’s foreign policy and said that it can be characterised by its multilateralism, use of soft power in diplomacy and its mediation efforts for settling various disputes in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The ambassador noted that Qatar’s method is the one needed in the world today, given the increase in use of hard power, violence and general unpredictability.
“Turkey and Qatar’s foreign policies share the same principles in terms of mediation efforts and humanitarian diplomacy. As such, we have a large room for further co-operation and co-ordination under the platforms such as OIC Contact Group of Friends of Mediation and UN Initiative of the Alliance of the Civilisations.
“Similarly, Qatar’s growing link with international organisations beyond its region, such as the OSCE and Nato brings our countries closer under multilateral institutions,” the ambassador said.
On bilateral ties, the ambassador said that Turkey and Qatar enjoy excellent relations in all fields.
He added that a reflection of that was the frequent high-level bilateral visits make important contribution to keep this momentum.
“Turkey and Qatar support each other in the face of major challenges. In this context, Turkish people will not forget the backing of Qatar and Qatari people during and after the heinous coup attempt on 15 July and the more recent attempts for devaluating Turkish lira. Similarly, Turkey rushed to the aid of Qatar when it faced an economic blockade in June 2017, which led to a greater integration of our economies,” the ambassador said.
He discussed trade ties and expressed his delight at how they were progressing.
He highlighted that joint institutional mechanisms such as the Supreme Strategic Committee, which was convened four times and resulted in 45 agreements and 4 joint declarations, set the necessary framework to boost the bilateral relations in every field.
Turkey’s ambassador to Qatar Fikret Ozer.
