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 La Estrella de Panamá, 28 April 2022

In the past, one might justifiably comment that the geographical distance was a determinant factor for closer relations between countries. Today, Türkiye’s excellent and ever-enhancing relations with Panama clearly challenge this claim.

Just twenty years ago, Türkiye was represented in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region with only 6 Embassies. Its trade volume with the region was around 1 billion US Dollars. Following our outreach policy towards LAC countries, we now have one of the biggest diplomatic networks in the region with 17 Embassies. This growing interest towards Latin America had a multiplier effect in economic relations as well, raising Türkiye’s trade volume with the region to 15 billion US Dollars.

Besides, Turkish Airlines established direct flight routes to 7 countries and 8 destinations, including Panama, creating an air bridge between our regions and facilitating both our economic cooperation and people-to-people ties.

Türkiye’s international development agency TİKA is also active in Latin America with two resident offices, providing assistance to local communities in need, in the areas of health, education, agricultural production, rural development and women empowerment among many others. The number of projects TİKA completed in the region almost reached 500.

Our relations with the region in the fields of culture and education are also enhancing day by day. So far, Türkiye provided nearly 500 scholarships to Latin American students. We have recently opened a Cultural Center in Colombia, which will be followed by other Cultural Centers soon.

Within this wider framework, we attach great importance to our relations with Panama. With its democracy, stability, liberal economy and unique geographic location, Panama is one of our most important partners in Latin America.

Since the reciprocal opening of our Embassies in 2014 and 2015 respectively, our relations have gained a particular momentum. Our bilateral trade volume surpassed 300 million US Dollars, although we believe it is still far from reflecting the real potential.

So increasing our trade volume is certainly a shared priority for us. But we are also keen to enhance our cooperation with Panama in areas such as energy, agriculture, maritime commerce and of course construction. Turkish construction companies enjoy a rightful reputation in this field thanks to many important and successful projects they have undertaken throughout the world. Knowing that construction is one of the driving forces of the Panamanian economy, we believe that Turkish companies can immensely contribute to many projects in Panama with their high-quality performance, including in the form of joint ventures.

Beyond the confines of our bilateral cooperation, Türkiye considers Panama as a gateway to reach out to the entire Latin American region, given its strategic location as a lynchpin between oceans and continents. Being at the crossroads of European, Asian and African continents, we believe that Türkiye offers opportunities for Panamanian business enterprises to expand in the wider region.

We also see Panama as an important partner and value its experiences in the fields of climate change and environmental protection. Indeed, Panama’s achievements in becoming one of the three carbon negative countries in the world as well as in becoming a Blue Leader by reaching 30x30 Ocean Protection Goals deserve all the praise.

We have laid a solid foundation for academic and cultural cooperation through close relations established between our universities. We now wish to further develop these relations by expanding the scope and intensity of our Turkish language courses as well as by opening a Department of Turkish Culture and History in the Panama University.

Last year as part of the celebration of the bicentennial of the independence of Panama and some other Latin American countries, we have organized many concerts, exhibitions, culinary events and other activities to mark this important anniversary. As it is with Turkish TV series in Panama, Turkish people also loved Panamanian culture and we are now looking forward to a more enhanced cooperation with Panama in the field of culture.

In conclusion, what we have achieved in our relations so far is remarkable. But, there is a lot more to do. On its part, Türkiye certainly looks forward to further deepening and diversifying its relations with Panama in many areas. Today, I have the honor of being the first Turkish Foreign Minister to realize a bilateral visit to Panama in the history of our relations. I am confident that this be followed up by many more mutual high-level visits. As a matter of fact, our parliamentarians have already made a lot of progress in establishing closer relations through intensive contacts. Now the rest of our governmental and private sectors should follow suit. Let us seize this momentum.