Rabat – The Moroccan Consul General in Istanbul, M’hamed Ifriquine, met in Istanbul on Tuesday with Ozlem Bozkurt Gevrek, Istanbul’s Vice-Governor in charge of tourism and culture. During the meeting, the two officials discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism.
The two officials pointed out their two countries’ shared cultural and civilizational heritage. They stressed that the multiple touristic assets in Morocco and Turkey make them two of the world’s best tourist destinations.
Both parties expressed their satisfaction with the level of bilateral relations in various fields, expressing their willingness to further consolidate them.
M’hamed Ifriquine and Bozkurt Gevrek agreed to hold such meetings more frequently to share more successful experiences and effective practices to enable the tourism sector to overcome the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Turkey and Morocco have maintained friendly and strong diplomatic relations over the decades. According to the website of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ankara and Rabat first established diplomatic relations on 17 April 1956 with a joint declaration in the immediate aftermath of the independence proclamation of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Read Also: Morocco, Turkey Sign Agreement to Meet Challenges of Market Competition
Following then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Morocco in June 2013, the bilateral relations between the two countries deepened.
Even when news of a diplomatic rift punctuated Morocco-Turkey relations in recent months Turkey remained among the countries that unambiguously support Morocco’s territorial integrity. Since Erdogan’s 2013 visit to Morocco, Turkey’s position towards Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara has not changed.
In January of this year, Ankara reiterated its support for Rabat’s Sahara stance through the spokesperson of the Turkish president, Ibrahim Kalin, who stated that Morocco’s territorial integrity and its stability constitute a strategic priority for Turkey.
