President of Maldives His Excellency Dr Mohamed Muizzu and the President of Türkiye His Excellency Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held Official Talks this evening at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

At the Official Talks, President Dr Muizzu noted that bilateral partnership between the Maldives and Türkiye is strong, and will be expanded to new areas of cooperation, including trade, investment, renewable energy, and higher education. The Maldives President expressed profound appreciation to President Erdoğan and the people of Türkiye for the support extended to the Maldives in various areas of socio-economic development.

President Erdoğan congratulated President Dr Muizzu on his election victory and being sworn-in as the President of Maldives. President Erdoğan said that he and the people of Türkiye are honoured that President Dr Muizzu chose Türkiye for his first Official Visit as President of Maldives and expressed his confidence that the visit will help to start a new chapter in the bilateral relations between Türkiye and the Maldives.

The two presidents reviewed progress in wide range of topics in the bilateral cooperation between the two countries and agreed on a roadmap for expanding cooperation between the two countries.

President Dr Muizzu, accompanied by First Lady Madam Sajidha Mohamed, and a high-level Ministerial Delegation, is making his first Official Visit overseas to Türkiye from 26-29 November.

President Dr Muizzu and President Erdoğan condemned in the strongest terms, Israel’s war on Palestine, and expressed the hope that the current pause in hostilities will become a cease-fire and eventually an end to the war. The two presidents noted that a permanent solution for peace in Palestine can only be attained through the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital within pre-1967 borders, and that Israel should end the illegal occupation of Palestine immediately and return the lands forcefully seized from Palestinians.

At the end of the Official Talks this evening, the two countries signed the “Agreement on Trade And Economic Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Maldives and the Government of the Republic Of Türkiye”. From the Maldives side, Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed and from Türkiye side, Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, Minister of Trade signed the Agreement in the presence of President Dr Muizzu and President Erdoğan.

Minister of Defence H. E. Mr Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon, Minister of Foreign Affairs H. E. Mr Moosa Zameer, Minister of Economic Development and Trade H. E. Mr Mohamed Saeed, Minister of Tourism H. E. Mr Ibrahim Faisal, Minister at the President’s Office H. E. Mr Ali Arif, Principal Secretary to the President of Foreign Relations H. E. Mr Mohamed Naseer, Principal Advisor to the President on Trade and Investment H.E. Mr Mohamed Ali Janah, Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H.E. Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed accompanied the President at the Official Talks.