Article by Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu titled “Türkiye-Rwanda Enjoy Excellent Relations”, 12 January 2023, Rwanda Article by Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu titled “Türkiye-Zimbabwe : A growing partnership” published in the Herald, 11 January 2023, Zimbabwe Article by Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu titled “A bright future for Turkey-South Africa cooperation“ published in Pretoria News and IOL, 10 January 2023, The Republic of South Africa Article by Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu titled ''We still have time to construct a peaceful future'' published on the occasion of Bled Strategic Forum, 29 August 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in New Straits Times, 4 August 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu titled ''Terrorism has no nationality, ethnicity nor religion. FETO threatens humanity as a whole'' on the occasion of July 15 Coup Attempt, 15 July 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in Lidové Noviny, 7 June 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published on the occasion of 25 May Africa Day Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in La Estrella de Panamá, 28 April 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in El Telégrafo Ecuador, 26 April 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in Brasilian newspaper “Folha De S.Paulo”, 25 April 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in Sri Lankan newspaper titled ''Time to Work for a New Impetus in Türkiye-Sri Lanka Relations'', 28 January 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Published in Khaleej Times, 11 February 2022 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu titled “Why Should We Fight Against FETO Resolutely?”, 15 July 2021 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published on the occasion of 25 May Africa Day Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu titled “Our Preference in Eastern Mediterranean is Diplomacy without Preconditions” published in Kathimerini, 15 September 2020 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu titled “We Face a New-Generation Terrorist Group” published in Daily Sabah, 16 July 2020 Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu titled “EU-Türkiye relations are strained but we have common ground to build on” published in Politico, 13 July 2020 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu titled ''Union With Africa Is Now More Essential Than Ever'' published on various African media outlets on the occasion of the Day of Africa, 25 May 2020 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in The Washington Times titled “What We Do Today Will Define Tomorrow”, 2 April 2020 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in the Financial Times titled 'EU inaction on Syrian refugees is a stain on human conscience', 22 March 2020 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in Bild titled “Europe Should Finally Wake Up From Its Long Sleep”, 5 March 2020 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in The New York Times titled “Why Türkiye Took the Fight to Syria”, 11 October 2019 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, published in “Kıbrıs Postası” on 14 July 2019 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in Politico Europe titled “Let’s put Türkiye’s EU membership back on track”, 14 May 2019 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in The Washington Times titled “One for all, all for one in challenging times”, 4 April 2019 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu titled “Seeking Peace Needs an Enterprising Foreign Policy”, published on the occasion of the Second OIC Member States Conference on Mediation and the Fifth Istanbul Mediation Conference, 29 November 2018 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in The Washington Post titled “The U.S. must stop arming terrorists in Syria”, 28 September 2018 Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu’s op-ed published in “USA Today” on the self defeating nature of US sanctions, 20 August 2018 Article by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu titled “Türkiye and Africa are building a solid partnership”, published on the occasion of 25 May Africa Day
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Article by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu published in El Telégrafo Ecuador, 26 April 2022

TÜRKİYE AND ECUADOR: SEPARATED BY GEOGRAPHY, BOUND BY COMMON VALUES AND INTERESTS

Today, I am pleased to be in Ecuador. Months ago, when we started planning my visit to the Latin American region, we quickly realized that we cannot limit ourselves to only a few countries. There are so many projects that we want to discuss with our Latin American partners. So, we included six countries, including Ecuador, in my schedule. My visit to Quito is of special importance as it marks the very first official visit by a Turkish Foreign Minister. It is so refreshing and promising to be in such a friendly country with which we share a wide positive agenda and a mutual commitment to further advance our relations in every possible field.

It is not only the advancement of our bilateral relations that we agree on. We also have a similar vision on addressing the challenges facing humanity as well as problems related to global governance. No matter how far we are apart from each other, many of the challenges we face today are the same. These include illegal migration, climate change, the fight against pandemics, terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking. In today’s globalized world, when there is instability, inequality and injustice anywhere, the entire international community is affected. This is why we believe that only through international cooperation we can effectively tackle these problems.

Türkiye has a strategic location at the confluence of several regions, continents and cultures. But it is also surrounded by many conflicts. Against this backdrop, Türkiye feels a particular responsibility to do everything in its power in order to alleviate the burden that these problems put on the shoulders of the humanity. To this end, Türkiye, in partnership with likeminded countries, is leading initiatives in the multilateral arena such as the Alliance of Civilizations and Mediation for Peace. The Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which we initiated last year, has already become an important platform to exchange views on how to find creative solutions to contemporary issues. It is in our tradition to reach out to anyone in need wherever they are. Our is country became the biggest donor of humanitarian assistance per GDP and the largest refugee hosting country in the whole world. All this, in fact, is the essence of our enterprising and humanitarian foreign policy.

Türkiye has long ago launched an outreach policy towards the Latin American region. Our aim was to deepen and diversify our relations with all countries in the region in order to realize the great potential of cooperation. We live in a global world where geography can no longer keep us apart.

Time has proven us right. What started as an outreach policy has now become one of the strategic pillars of our foreign policy. Over the last two decades, we have increased the number of our diplomatic missions from 6 to 18. Our 19th mission will be opened this year in San Salvador. Our trade volume with the region has increased 15 times over this period. Now it exceeds 15 billion Dollars. Even last year, despite the pandemic, our trade has increased significantly. However, I believe that there is still a greater potential. All our relevant agencies have stepped up their presence and activities in the region. For example, Turkish Airlines is now flying directly to 8 destinations, while our Development Agency TIKA has undertaken around 500 projects in almost every country of the region. We also have established close and functional links with almost all the regional organizations in Latin America.

As a result, we brought our relations with this region to a level where we laid down a strong foundation. We are now poised to have a wider political dialogue, more economic cooperation and closer cultural relations.

In this framework Ecuador is a key partner to build a more stable, prosperous, just and humane world order. Our diplomatic relations date back to 1950 and gained particular momentum when Ecuador opened its Embassy in Ankara in 2009 and Türkiye in Quito in 2012. Mutual presidential visits, in 2012 and 2016 respectively, further enhanced our relations.

Since then we have come a long way in further deepening our relations in every field based on shared interests, mutual respect and common vision. But looking ahead we know that we can do much more. We remain committed to elevate our relations to new heights. To this end, I am hoping that my visit to Ecuador today, will open new avenues of cooperation in trade and investments, cultural cooperation, education, energy and agriculture - just to name a few of these areas with great potential.

We are also determined to enhance the scope of our coordination and cooperation in multilateral platforms. Türkiye will wholeheartedly support the upcoming membership of Ecuador to the UN Security Council. Given that many items on the Council’s agenda are related to issues in Türkiye's wider region, our close relations will help both our countries to bring an added value to the work of the Council.

In conclusion, despite being separated by geography, our countries which are linked by common values and objectives, have not only a possibility but also a responsibility to work closely together to address our common challenges and opportunities. Türkiye is fully committed to do so.